Senior Director Product Management

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

We are seeking a Senior Director of Product Management to lead the development of innovative storage products that address the evolving challenges of data centers. This individual will work closely with our largest customers to understand their needs, solve critical storage problems, and deliver profitable, high-impact solutions.

This role demands a deep understanding of enterprise storage, significant experience with cloud environments, and expertise in translating customer insights into actionable roadmaps. You will lead a team of product experts, driving strategy, execution, and success for the company and our customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain tight relationships with key customers, deeply understanding their needs and motivations.
• Develop and execute a product roadmap that addresses customer challenges and delivers profitable, market-leading solutions.
• Serve as the customer’s advocate within the company, ensuring internal teams align with their goals.
• Drive strategic planning by synthesizing customer input, market trends, and technical insights into clear, actionable strategies.
• Lead and inspire a team of product experts and contributors to execute on customer goals.
• Present compelling strategies and tradeoffs to executive stakeholders and customer leadership.
• Navigate complex problems with many unknowns, breaking them down into simple, actionable plans.
• Balance competing priorities, weighing customer needs, technical feasibility, and business goals.
• Build consensus across cross-functional teams and secure buy-in for critical initiatives.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Enterprise storage expertise with a strong foundation in either HDD or SSD technologies.
  • If no HDD experience, extensive interaction with enterprise SSDs and cloud environments is required.
• Cloud experience: Understanding how storage is used in the cloud and its integration into enterprise solutions.
• Strategic situational awareness: Ability to decipher unspoken customer needs, synthesize insights, and uncover opportunities.
• Strong big-picture thinking: Balance long-term strategy with immediate problem-solving.
• Excellent communication skills: Clearly articulate complex ideas to varied audiences and build compelling presentations.
• Proven ability to run executive-level meetings, influence stakeholders, and drive decisions.
• Exceptional customer obsession, with a deep understanding of their needs and a passion for solving problems.
• Demonstrated ownership: Ability to drive cross-functional teams to deliver results on time and on plan.
• Strong enterprise orientation, finding win-win outcomes and working collaboratively across teams.
• Leadership experience, with the ability to inspire, develop, and build high-performing teams.
• Outstanding organizational and time management skills.
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• Preferred Qualifications
• 10+ years of work experience in a technical role
• 5+ years of team leadership
• Technical degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.
• MBA or equivalent experience is an asset.

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