Vice President

Job Description

Western Digital seeks a best-in-class Vice President, Total Rewards for the standalone HDD business at Western Digital. A unique opportunity to establish the function at scale, the Vice President, Total Rewards will report to Katie Watson, the go-forward Chief Human Resources Officer for the business. This executive will be a key member of the HR leadership team and critical contributor to Western Digital’s overall strategy and direction. The Vice President, Total Rewards will be a thought leader, designer, and communicator of Western Digital’s Rewards programs, including the company’s performance recognition philosophy and mechanisms. Beyond establishing the vision for Western Digital’s total rewards philosophy, this leader will lead the design and program governance of the company’s compensation, equity, recognition, and benefits programs to align with the strategic goals and culture of the organization. Beyond having the responsibility for the strategic and design aspect of the role, the leader will also have the responsibility for the operational execution of all matters under his/her scope of responsibility through both the corporate and regional centers of expertise (COE), which report direct line into this role. 

The Vice President, Total Rewards will work closely with HR, Legal, Finance and business leaders to drive the efforts to design and implement enterprise solutions at scale. This leader will help create and execute strategies to build a high performing HR organization, including Total Rewards, a talented leadership team, an engaged team of motivated employees and the identification of the next generation of talent for Western Digital. Finally, the Vice President, Total Rewards will work very closely with the Board’s Compensation Committee as a key strategic advisor, partnering with the Committee’s Compensation Consultant. 

Core responsibilities will include: 

▪ Lead the strategy, design, operational execution, communication and administration of Western Digital’s compensation, equity, recognition, benefits, mobility and HR M&A programs and activities, including annual and long-term incentives, equity incentives, executive compensation and recognition 

▪ Provide leadership to Western Digital’s job architecture program, ensuring that all salary programs, merit budgets and salary structures have market pricing at their core and are aligned with Western Digital’s overall philosophy 

▪ Develop strategies to drive employee awareness and understanding of all compensation, recognition, and benefit programs; align as appropriate to Western Digital’s Talent Philosophy 

▪ Lead all components of board level materials, presentations and recommendations related to Total Rewards, including direct ownership for the Proxy’s CD&A as well as all total rewards-related governance matters 

▪ Responsible for the executive reward agenda, leads, and brings innovation to Executive compensation plan design. Acts as a strategic and trusted advisor on Executive compensation matters to senior leadership across the organization. Establishes credibility & confidence to enable practical and thoughtful engagement with the Compensation Committee, Executive team and leadership 

▪ Monitor external trends and benchmarks. Proactively adjust total reward programs to stay competitive in the market; drive additional total rewards benefits harmonization outside the United States 

▪ Ensure compensation, recognition, benefits and equity programs are both innovatively and equitably designed and then consistently applied 

▪ Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure optimal integrations with enterprise goal setting and metric development, performance, and talent management systems 

▪ Develop deep relationships with leaders across the organization, HR Business Partners, and Talent Acquisition to help understand how total rewards is impacting Western Digital’s ability to attract the best talent 

▪ Grow talent capability and bench strength within Total Rewards to enables stronger leadership succession 

▪ Lead rewards related strategy and execution of People Reporting & partner effectively with the Analytics function to drive mature, data-driven conclusions and decisions across the organization at scale 

▪ Responsible for all HR matters related to M&A, including leading teams’ efforts for due diligence reviews of M&A targets all the way through integration of compensation, pension, benefits and other HR systems of acquired companies 

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be a proven Total Rewards leader who has led a compensation, benefits and HR M&A teams at a multibillion-dollar, global public company. They will have excellent credentials and experience in compensation, benefits, and wellness. This individual will have previous experience designing and administering executive and innovative rewards programs and partnered closely with a Board of Directors. 

They will have a career defined by a keen understanding of the competitive environment for attracting, developing, and retaining talent, as well as a deep knowledge of regulatory, compliance, legislative and market issues and trends and policy implications related to compensation. The ideal candidate will have experience scaling and maturing the Total Rewards function. 

The Vice President, Total Rewards will have a collaborative leadership style that relies on excellent influencing and communication skills when developing and executing the strategies, programs and practices that create a robust value proposition for the Rewards strategy. They will be a hands-on leader, comfortable wearing many hats, and operating in a lean environment with a desire for ongoing learning, to keep Western Digital at the forefront of trends across executive compensation and the broader total rewards function. 

Qualifications and Business Acumen 

• Relevant experience in developing, managing, and leading compensation and benefit programs, including executive compensation, broad based compensation, and employee benefits. 
• Experience leading Total Rewards organizations through times of transformation; leadership through M&A activity, divestitures, spin-offs and carve-outs is strongly preferred 
• Superior executive presence with the ability and credibility to present ideas and recommendations at all levels within the organization and to the Executive Leadership team and Board of Directors. 
• Grasps complexities and connections among problems or issues, able to prioritize elements that will most drive success. 
• Keen analytical capabilities, with the ability to identify and bring forward trends or market gaps in all elements of total rewards programs, as well as risks. 
• Exceptional business knowledge, general management, and leadership capability. 

In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we highlight: 

Executing for Results 

• The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing Western Digital to operational excellence; tenacious and accountable in driving results. 
• Comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty; ability to adapt and lead through complex situations. 
• A leader who is viewed by others as having a high degree of integrity and forethought in their approach to making decisions; the ability to act in a transparent and consistent manner while always considering what is best for Western Digital. 

Leading Teams 

• The ability to attract and recruit top talent, motivate the team, delegate effectively, celebrate diversity within the team, and manage performance; widely viewed as a strong developer of others. 
• The ability to persevere in the face of challenges and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards, which commands respect from followers. 
• A leader who is self-reflective and aware of their own limitations; leads by example and drives the organization's performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self-improvement.