Director, Benefits

WD; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

FSAs/HSA

Job summary

WD is seeking an experienced Director of Benefits to design and steer WD’s global benefits and wellbeing programs for a diverse workforce in the US, EMEA, and APAC. You will lead US benefits end-to-end, set global governance for APAC, and partner with Legal, Finance, and external vendors to ensure compliant, market-competitive offerings.

The role requires strategic leadership, vendor management, and the ability to translate WD’s Total Rewards philosophy into actionable programs that attract and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, business, finance, or related field.
• 7–10+ years of progressive benefits experience, including 3+ years in leadership.
• Experience managing US benefits programs in large organizations (5,000+ employees).
• Experience managing EMEA benefits across multiple countries.
• Strong working knowledge of US benefits compliance (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA).
• Proven ability to lead vendor negotiations, RFPs, and contract management.
• Experience designing or managing employee wellbeing programs.
• Strong analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end strategy, design, and administration of all US benefit programs.
• Lead the annual US benefits renewal process, including vendor selection, RFP management, cost modeling, and executive presentations.
• Ensure compliance with ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, and state requirements.
• Partner with Legal and Finance to manage plan documents, SPDs, 5500 filings, and non-discrimination testing.
• Provide strategic oversight of benefit programs across EMEA countries.
• Manage relationships with EMEA benefits brokers and insurers, driving service delivery and cost effectiveness.
• Serve as the global CoE authority for benefits strategy and governance for APAC.
• Design and champion WD's global employee wellbeing strategy and vendor ecosystem.
• Build a wellbeing communications calendar and measure program effectiveness.
• Partner with ERGs, HRBP, and Communications to foster wellbeing culture.
• Lead, develop, and mentor a team of benefits professionals.
• Manage external vendors and brokers with SLAs and cost performance.
• Define workflows with HR Shared Services for seamless benefits transactions.

Skills

Leadership

Benefits strategy

Vendor negotiations

Regulatory compliance

People management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business Admin, Finance, or related field

Job description

WD is building the infrastructure behind the AI-driven data economy.

As AI scales, so does data. Every interaction, every model, every system generates data that must be stored, managed, and made accessible over time. That’s where we come in.

We combine deep engineering expertise with global-scale manufacturing to deliver the storage systems that make AI possible, powering hyperscale data centers, cloud platforms, and enterprise infrastructure worldwide.

This isn’t theoretical work. It’s real systems, at real scale, people solving some of the hardest challenges in technology today.

We’re looking for people who want to build, solve, and operate at that level.

Join us and let’s shape the future of data.

Job Description

WD is seeking an experienced and strategic Director, Benefits to lead the design, delivery, and evolution of our global benefits and wellbeing programs. This role serves as the Center of Excellence (CoE) leader for benefits strategy, owning direct program accountability for the United States and EMEA regions, while providing CoE oversight and governance for APAC benefits operations. The Director will also own WD's global employee wellbeing strategy, ensuring programs are impactful, inclusive, and aligned with our Total Rewards philosophy.

This is a high-visibility role that partners closely with HR Business Partners, Finance, Legal, and external vendors to ensure our benefits offerings attract and retain top talent across a diverse, global workforce.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

US Benefits Leadership

• Own end-to-end strategy, design, and administration of all US benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, flexible spending accounts (FSA/HSA), 401(k)/retirement plans, leave of absence policies, and voluntary benefits.
• Lead the annual US benefits renewal process, including vendor selection, RFP management, cost modeling, and executive presentations.
• Ensure full compliance with applicable regulations including ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, and other federal and state requirements.
• Partner with Legal and Finance to manage plan documents, SPDs, 5500 filings, and non-discrimination testing.

EMEA Benefits Leadership

• Provide strategic oversight and hands‑on management of benefit programs across EMEA countries.
• Partner with regional HR teams, local brokers, and legal counsel to ensure programs are locally compliant, market‑competitive, and aligned to the global Total Rewards philosophy.
• Lead benchmarking and market analysis for EMEA programs to proactively identify gaps and opportunities.
• Manage relationships with EMEA benefits brokers and insurers, driving accountability for service delivery and cost effectiveness.

APAC Benefits – CoE Governance

• Serve as the global CoE authority for benefits strategy and governance, providing APAC regional HR teams with frameworks, policies, standards, and tools to deliver locally relevant programs.
• Conduct periodic governance reviews of APAC benefits programs to assess alignment with global philosophy, cost trends, and compliance posture.
• Support APAC teams on complex or escalated program design questions, M&A activity, and new country expansions.

Global Wellbeing Strategy

• Design and champion WD's global employee wellbeing strategy, encompassing physical, mental, financial, and social wellbeing pillars.
• Manage wellbeing vendor ecosystem, including EAP, mental health platforms, financial wellness tools, and onsite/virtual wellness programs.
• Build and execute a wellbeing communications and engagement calendar to drive participation and program awareness globally.
• Measure and report on wellbeing program effectiveness through utilization data, employee surveys, and ROI analysis.
• Partner with internal stakeholders (ERGs, HRBP, Communications) to build a culture of wellbeing at WD.

Team & Vendor Leadership

• Lead, develop, and mentor a team of benefits professionals.
• Manage a portfolio of external vendors, consultants, and brokers, holding partners accountable to SLAs, innovation, and cost performance.
• Define operational workflows in partnership with HR Shared Services (People Operations/AskHR) to ensure seamless employee experience for benefits transactions and inquiries.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field
• 7-10+ years of progressive benefits experience, including at least 3 years in a leadership role
• Demonstrated experience managing US benefits programs in a large, complex organization (5,000+ employees)
• Experience managing EMEA benefits across multiple countries
• Strong working knowledge of US benefits compliance (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA)
• Proven ability to lead vendor negotiations, RFPs, and contract management
• Experience designing or managing employee wellbeing programs
• Strong analytical skills with ability to build business cases and present to senior leaders
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills

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.

WD thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.

WD is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at [e-mail] to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will 1/9/27, although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline, we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.

Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employee’s pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills, ability, knowledge of the job; (3) performance, contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
• The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California, Colorado, New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California, Colorado and New York. This range may be modified in the future.
• If your position is non‑exempt, you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws. You may also be eligible for shift differential pay, depending on the shift to which you are assigned.
• You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either WD’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”) which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance, depending on your role and your performance. You may be eligible to participate in our annual Long‑Term Incentive (LTI) program, which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents, pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program, and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to WD's Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid vacation time; paid sick leave; medical/dental/vision insurance; life, accident and disability insurance; tax‑advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts; employee assistance program; other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity; tuition reimbursement; transit; the Applause Program; employee stock purchase plan; and the WD Savings 401(k) Plan.
• Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company’s sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.

Notice To Candidates

Please be aware that WD and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests, please report it immediately to WD Ethics Helpline or email [e-mail].