Chief of Staff - Product Management Engineering

Western Digital•San Jose, CA

22h•Onsite

About The Position

Western Digital is seeking a Senior Director, Chief of Staff — Product Management (HDD) to serve as a strategic and operational partner to the SVP of Product Management and Emerging Businesses. This role acts as an extension of the SVP, driving operational rigor, execution of key initiatives, and cross-functional alignment across the entire organization. This position operates at the center of product, technology, and business decision-making — ensuring that strategy translates into action. The Chief of Staff leads operating cadence, drives accountability across priorities, enables effective decision-making, and ensures alignment of resources, investments, and outcomes. The role serves as a force multiplier for Product leadership by improving execution speed, decision quality, and organizational efficiency. Success in this role requires strong judgment, enterprise-wide perspective, and the ability to lead through influence in a highly matrixed environment. The ideal candidate brings a combination of operational leadership, program execution, financial acumen, and cross-functional collaboration, with experience in engineering, program management, finance, or prior Chief of Staff roles within complex technology organizations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, Finance, or related field
Progressive xperience in engineering, program management, finance, product strategy, or Chief of Staff roles
Proven ability to drive complex, cross-functional initiatives to completion
Strong operational, financial, and business acumen
Demonstrated ability to influence without authority in a matrixed organization
Exceptional communication, organization, and execution skills
Strong judgment with an enterprise-wide perspective

Nice To Haves

Experience in storage, semiconductor, or infrastructure technology industries
Prior Chief of Staff or equivalent operational leadership experience
MBA or advanced technical degree
Experience supporting executive-level decision-making and planning processes
Background in portfolio planning, budgeting, and transformation initiatives

Responsibilities

Partner with the SVP to translate strategy into executable plans, priorities, and measurable outcomes
Drive and track high-impact initiatives across Product Management and Emerging Businesses
Ensure alignment of goals, resources, and timelines across the organization
Act as a delegate for the SVP to advance initiatives and remove execution barriers
Own and run the global Product Management operating cadence including QBRs, roadmap reviews, executive checkpoints, and planning cycles
Establish and maintain operating rigor across planning, execution, and review processes
Drive accountability for deliverables, timelines, and business outcomes
Continuously improve processes to increase efficiency, transparency, and speed
Enable high-quality decision-making through structured analysis, insights, and executive-ready recommendations
Help prioritize initiatives and investments based on strategic value, ROI, and resource constraints
Anticipate risks, identify trade-offs, and recommend actionable solutions
Ensure decisions are aligned with enterprise objectives and long-term strategy
Partner closely with Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and investment planning
Monitor performance against financial targets, portfolio investments, and cost structures
Collaborate with HR on organizational planning, talent strategy, and workforce alignment
Ensure resources are deployed effectively to support strategic priorities
Establish and track key performance indicators across revenue, margin, execution, and operational health
Provide visibility into business performance, trends, and areas of risk or opportunity
Drive a results-oriented culture with clear metrics and accountability
Ensure consistent reporting and performance management across the organization
Serve as a central coordination point across Product, Engineering, Firmware, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and Go-to-Market teams
Lead cross-functional alignment on key initiatives, roadmap execution, and operational priorities
Facilitate decision forums and resolve cross-organizational tradeoffs
Ensure execution is aligned with technology readiness, operational capability, and market needs
Optimize the effectiveness, focus, and leverage of the SVP
Develop executive communications, presentations, and business updates
Translate complex technical and business topics into clear executive narratives
Represent the SVP in meetings and forums as appropriate
Lead high-impact, cross-functional programs including platform transitions, cost optimization, and operational improvements
Drive transformation initiatives within Product Management operating models
Support strategic investments, partnerships, and M&A evaluations as needed
Sponsor and execute special projects on behalf of Product leadership