Senior Talent Acquisition Manager – Strategic Initiatives & Talent Insights

Western Digital•San Jose, CA

21d

About The Position

The Senior Talent Acquisition Manager – Strategic Initiatives & Talent Insights leads the strategy, insight, and program engine that supports Western Digital’s global Talent Acquisition organization. The role does not carry recruiting requisitions. It converts hiring data into executive decisions and develops programs that improve the work of recruiters, hiring leaders, and executives. The position leads Strategic Offerings within Global Talent Acquisition and Mobility Insights & Programs. Its remit includes workforce and talent intelligence, strategic programs, and talent brand. The role owns the Workforce & Talent Intelligence capability and helps shape other FY27 priorities, including critical and future skills pipelines, scalable delivery and RPO, recruiting motions and talent pathways, and client and hiring manager enablement. The role owns quarterly business overviews and business reviews presented to the CEO and executive team, and potentially the board. It builds intelligence on hiring demand, pipeline health, time-to-fill, cost, quality, and labor-market signals across Direct Labor, Early Career, Indirect Labor, and Executive hiring. It partners with Finance and HR on annual operating plan headcount planning and leads a cross-regional strategic initiatives portfolio from intake and prioritization through adoption and benefits tracking. The manager leads three direct reports: a Talent Insights & Workforce Planning Lead, a Program Manager, and a Talent Brand Manager. The role sets priorities and standards, coaches team members, and ensures talent brand reflects hiring needs. It also provides a perspective on appropriate uses of AI and automation while preserving human judgment where needed.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, HR, Analytics, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Economics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
10+ years of progressive experience across talent acquisition, HR, people analytics, workforce planning, strategy, or operations, including 4+ years leading people.
Proven ownership of workforce or headcount planning in a global, matrixed organization with 10,000+ employees.
Hands-on analytics fluency, including metric frameworks, forecasting models, and executive dashboards using Power BI, Tableau, or Workday reporting.
Track record of leading multi-region, cross-functional programs from charter through adoption.
Executive presence and ability to brief VP- and C-level leaders with a clear recommendation, not just data.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing new offerings, practices, or process design in manufacturing, semiconductor, or high-tech environments with large direct labor populations.
Experience with talent insights site selection, labor-market mapping, or location strategy.
Working knowledge of Workday (HCM, Recruiting, or Adaptive Planning) and modern ATS platforms.
Employer brand or EVP experience, or close partnership with marketing.
Design thinking, Agile, PMP, PgMP, Prosci, or similar certification.
Experience with RPO models, vendor economics, or shared services design.
Experience with AI and automation.

Responsibilities

Own quarterly business overviews (QBOs) and business reviews (QBRs) presented by Talent Acquisition to the CEO and executive team, and potentially the board; determine the key messages and communicate them effectively to executive audiences.
Build the workforce and talent intelligence capability, covering hiring demand, pipeline health, time-to-fill, cost, quality, and labor-market signals across Direct Labor, Early Career, Indirect Labor, and Executive hiring.
Partner with Finance and HR on annual operating plan (AOP) headcount planning so hiring capacity aligns with business demand before requisitions open.
Run a multi-program portfolio end to end, including intake, prioritization, business cases, roadmaps, governance, and benefits tracking.
Drive cross-regional programs across the US, APAC, and EMEA, including RPO scale-up and talent pathways for critical and future skills.
Develop a perspective on where AI and automation should handle high-volume, repeatable work and where human judgment should remain.
Lead three direct reports: a Talent Insights & Workforce Planning Lead, a Program Manager, and a Talent Brand Manager.
Set team priorities and standards, coach team members, and build a team known for rigor and follow-through.
Keep talent brand connected to hiring data and organizational hiring needs.

Benefits

Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Life, accident, and disability insurance
Tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts
Employee assistance program
Voluntary benefit programs, including supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident, and hospital indemnity
Tuition reimbursement
Transit benefits
Applause Program
Employee stock purchase plan
WD Savings 401(k) Plan
Potential eligibility for bonuses under the Short Term Incentive Plan or Sales Incentive Plan, depending on role and performance
Potential eligibility for the annual Long-Term Incentive program, consisting of restricted stock units or cash equivalents; eligible new hires may also receive RSU awards