Senior Director, Core & Ecosystem Strategy

Western Digital • San Jose, CA

1d • $233,500 - $311,300 • Hybrid

About The Position

Western Digital is entering a new chapter as an independent deep-tech company, focusing on technological frontiers in magnetics, photonics, nanofabrication, and machine learning. The Strategy & Corporate Development team acts as a bridge between the company's technology and the markets it serves, translating deep-tech capabilities into commercial impact. This role is crucial for strengthening the core HDD business, setting long-term strategy, and executing partnerships, investments, and acquisitions. The company is seeking individuals who want to work on impactful problems at the intersection of deep technology, business strategy, and real-world application.

Requirements

• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive experience spanning top-tier management consulting or in-house corporate strategy and GTM/commercial leadership roles.
• Required industry experience within a GTM, commercial, sales strategy, or related role at a data storage company (HDD, SSD, storage systems) or directly adjacent infrastructure company (semiconductors, memory, enterprise storage platforms).
• Deep domain experience in data storage, semiconductors, enterprise/cloud infrastructure, or broader AI infrastructure with fluency in technical and commercial dynamics.
• Proven track record running complex strategic projects end-to-end, from hypothesis development through to analysis and recommendation, with output quality suitable for senior leadership / C-suite.
• Comfort operating with quantitative rigor in ambiguous, high stakes strategic decisions.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to evaluate business models and market economics.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and structured problem-solving skills.
• Outstanding executive communication, including materials development, narrative crafting, and live presentation to senior leadership (C-suite and Board).
• Proven ability to drive alignment and influence senior stakeholders.
• MBA or equivalent experience required.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Economics, or a related analytical field.

Responsibilities

• Define sales and commercial strategy for Western Digital’s core HDD business in partnership with the commercial leadership team to support long-term value capture.
• Support broader portfolio of strategic projects that support Western Digital core business overall, potentially including ecosystem activation, technology assessment, vertical integration strategy, international opportunities, and supply chain optimization.
• Build Western Digital's ecosystem strategy across hyperscalers, neoclouds, sovereign clouds, OEMs, system integrators, and cloud infrastructure software vendors, developing frameworks for orchestrating the company's role in the broader storage ecosystem.
• Evaluate strategic partnership opportunities with cloud providers, OEMs, system integrators, and ecosystem players, developing deal structuring frameworks and partner models.
• Execute high-priority strategic projects end-to-end, including go-to-market strategy, customer and partner frameworks, business model evaluation, and build-vs-buy-vs-partner assessments.
• Translate long-term strategic priorities into actionable decisions and recommendations for the Executive Leadership Team.
• Partner closely with GTM and commercial leadership to co-develop strategies reflecting customer needs and market dynamics, ensuring strategic recommendations translate into commercial action.
• Collaborate across Product, Engineering, Commercial, Finance, and Legal teams to align strategy with execution and drive cross-functional alignment on high-stakes strategic questions.
• Deliver strategic briefings, deep dives, and recommendations on competitive dynamics, market trends, and long-term positioning for senior leadership.
• Present to C-suite and Board audiences with rigor, clarity, and strategic conviction.
• Serve as a trusted strategic thought partner to senior business leaders.

Benefits

• Paid vacation time
• Paid sick leave
• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Life, accident and disability insurance
• Tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts
• Employee assistance program
• Supplemental life and AD&D
• Legal plan
• Pet insurance
• Critical illness
• Hospital indemnity
• Tuition reimbursement
• Transit
• Applause Program
• Employee stock purchase plan
• WD Savings 401(k) Plan
• Eligibility for bonuses under WD’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”)
• Potential eligibility for annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program (restricted stock units or cash equivalents)
• RSU awards available to eligible new hires

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior