Vice President, Product Management

Job Description

WD seeks a visionary and commercially decisive Vice President of Product Management to lead the full lifecycle of our product portfolio — from strategic roadmap through market delivery and commercial execution. This is a high-impact enterprise leadership role that sits at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and customer outcomes.

The VP of Product Management will own the integrated product strategy across Roadmap & Product Marketing driving alignment across R&D, Sales, Finance, and Operations to deliver profitable, market-leading storage solutions. This leader will shape how WD competes, grows, and wins in cloud, enterprise, and emerging segments.

Reporting to the Chief Product Officer (CPO) , this role is a critical member of the product leadership team and is expected to be part of the succession plan for the current CPO .

Scope of Leadership

This role carries full VP-level organizational accountability, including:

• Leading a multi-functional organization spanning Product Roadmap, Product Marketing & Product Introduction — each led by a Sr Director reporting directly to this role
• Managing and developing Sr. Director/Director-level leaders , setting direction, building organizational health, and holding them accountable for results across their respective domains
• Owning enterprise-wide product decisions that cross business units, geographies, and customer segments
• Representing the product organization at the ELT level, in board-level discussions, with strategic customers, and in external forums
• Setting the organizational culture and talent strategy for a large, globally distributed product management team

Key Responsibilities

• Product Roadmap Leadership
• Define and own the multi-year product roadmap strategy across HDD, SSD, and emerging storage platforms aligned to market segment needs
• Drive strategic technology roadmaps and investment decisions for advanced storage solutions spanning cloud, enterprise, and consumer markets
• Lead cross-functional alignment between R&D, Product, and Business units on technology direction and portfolio prioritization
• Evaluate product architecture decisions and technology integration strategies, guiding teams on advanced storage technology implementation and risk mitigation
• Establish product portfolio governance — balancing innovation investment, time-to- market, and customer commitments
• Advise leadership on technology partnerships, acquisitions, and innovative investments that expand or strengthen the product portfolio
• Drive critical product design reviews and technology assessments to ensure roadmap integrity and execution quality
• Product Marketing
• Lead the product marketing function to build compelling, differentiated value propositions for each market segment
• Partner with Sales and the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer to develop go-to-market strategies for advanced storage technologies
• Drive competitive positioning frameworks and customer-facing technical narratives that enable Sales to win
• Lead strategic engagements with key customers to co-develop product roadmaps and validate market requirements
• Champion WD's innovation story externally — at industry conferences, analyst briefings, media engagements, and customer forums
• Build segment-specific messaging across cloud, enterprise, consumer, and emerging verticals

(A) Demand Planning

• Lead demand planning processes in close partnership with Sales, Finance, and Operations to build accurate, forward-looking demand signals
• Establish monthly and quarterly demand review cadences aligned to the S&OP process
• Drive forecast accuracy improvement as a measurable organizational capability

(B) Supply Allocation

• Own supply allocation decision frameworks that balance customer commitments, revenue optimization, and strategic account prioritization
• Partner with Global Operations and Manufacturing on supply constraint scenarios and allocation trade-offs
• Serve as the executive decision-maker for escalated allocation conflicts across business units and geographies

(C) Long-Term Agreements (LTAs)

• Lead the strategy, negotiation framework, and governance for Long-Term Agreements with strategic customers
• Partner with Sales, Legal, and Finance to structure LTAs that deliver volume commitments, pricing stability, and supply security
• Ensure LTA portfolio is actively managed — tracking performance, renegotiation timelines, and risk exposure

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as the primary product and commercial interface to Sales, Finance, Legal, and Operations at the ELT level
• Partner with Manufacturing and Operations teams to understand cost structures and production scalability that inform product and pricing decisions
• Collaborate with Finance and Strategy teams on technology investment ROI analysis, business case development, and portfolio trade-offs
• Develop and maintain strong executive relationships with key customers, analysts, and industry partners

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Business, or related field strongly preferred• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in product management, commercial strategy, or storage technology — with at least 3 years at the VP level or above
• Proven experience leading Sr Directors and managing multi-functional organizations with enterprise-wide accountability
• Demonstrated track record of owning full product lifecycle — from roadmap definition through commercial execution, pricing, and customer delivery
• Deep experience in demand planning and supply allocation in a hardware or technology company
• Strong business acumen with demonstrated ability to build and defend business cases, manage P&L drivers, and deliver revenue and margin results
• Experience leading LTA negotiations with Tier 1 customers in enterprise or cloud markets
• Exceptional executive communication skills — equally compelling in a boardroom, acustomer briefing, and a media interview
• Willingness to travel internationally (25–30%), including Asia-Pacific regions

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in HDD, SSD, NAND, or storage controller product management
• Deep familiarity with cloud hyperscaler procurement dynamics and supply chain structures (AWS, Google, Microsoft, Meta)
• Board or advisory experience with technology companies or academic institutions
• Track record of driving significant revenue growth or margin improvement through product strategy and commercial execution
• Experience leading organizations through a post-merger, post-split, or major business transformation

Additional Information

WD is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the " Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal ” poster. Our pay transparency policy is available HERE

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