Program Manager, Early Career Talent

Company Description

At Western Digital, our vision is to power global innovation and push the boundaries of technology to make what you thought was once impossible, possible.

At our core, Western Digital is a company of problem solvers. People achieve extraordinary things given the right technology. For decades, we’ve been doing just that—our technology helped people put a man on the moon and capture the first-ever picture of a black hole.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, HDDs, and platforms for business, creative professionals, and consumers alike under our Western Digital®, WD®, WD_BLACK™, and Sandisk® Professional Brands.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest-growth organizations in the world. From enabling systems to make cities safer and more connected, to powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and hyperscale cloud providers, to meeting the massive and ever-growing data storage needs of the AI era, Western Digital is fueling a brighter, smarter future.

Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

Job Description

The Program Manager for Early Career Programs will be a motivated and detail-oriented professional who plays a critical role in bringing our global early career strategy to life. Partnering closely with the Senior Manager of Global Programs, you’ll help execute and enhance our internship and early career initiatives—designing engaging experiences, managing operations, and ensuring programs are inclusive, impactful, and aligned with business priorities. 

As an Early Career Talent Program Manager, you will own delivering and optimizing the full lifecycle of early career programs—bringing our global strategy to life through exceptional execution. You’ll manage onboarding, orientation, engagement activities, skill development, and offboarding, while continuously improving processes to create a seamless and impactful experience. In this role, you’ll collaborate with teams across Recruiting, Organizational Development & Learning, Talent Insights, Marketing & Communications, and business leaders to ensure every program is engaging, inclusive, and aligned with organizational goals. Success in this role requires a balance of operational excellence, stakeholder partnership, and hands-on execution. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

Program Strategy & Design 

• Execute and enhance global internship and early career program frameworks—bringing established strategies to life through exceptional delivery and continuous improvement 

• Deliver structured, inclusive, and scalable experiences for interns and early career hires, ensuring programs are engaging, impactful, and aligned with business priorities 

• Develop curricula focused on professional skills, leadership foundations, business acumen, and career readiness 

• Support and enhance rotational programs, ensuring consistency, clarity, and strong developmental outcomes 

• Ensure alignment of early career programs with business priorities and workforce planning needs 

Program Execution & Operations 

• End-to-end execution of early career and internship programs, including onboarding, orientation, events, learning sessions, etc 

• Assist with program operations and logistics, including event planning, speaker coordination, vendor management, scheduling, & budgets 

• Serve as primary liaison between interns and managers, ensuring clear communication and support 

• Track program participants progress, engagement, and performance 

• Prepare and deliver presentations, program updates, and data-driven insights 

• Partnering with OD & Learning to ensure early career hires receive the right skill development and building tools and resources to strengthen coaching and performance management 

Engagement, Facilitation, and Communications 

• Partner with marketing to build a compelling early career program brand, promotional strategy, and on campus presence. 

• Ensure consistent and effective communications with interns, early career hires, managers, speakers, and business leaders 

• Lead and facilitate live sessions, workshops, and events 

• Serve as an engaging and motivational presenter who can connect with a diverse early career audience 

• Create a high-energy, inclusive environment that fosters belonging, growth, learning, connection and development 

Qualifications

Required:

• Minimum 3+ years of program management experience in early career, internship, u