Director, Finance

WD; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

STI / SIP bonuses

LTI equity eligibility

Comprehensive benefits package

401(k) plan

RSU awards

Job summary

WD is seeking a Director of Finance to lead end-to-end budget planning and analysis for the Product & Engineering organization, partnering with senior leaders to enable informed decision-making.

The role collaborates with R&D, Product Management, and Corporate Finance to drive OpEx, CapEx, and headcount planning, while developing concise executive reporting and overseeing a team of five analysts in a fast-moving tech environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting; MBA, CFA, or equivalent advanced qualification preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive Finance/FP&A experience, with significant experience supporting R&D, Product, Engineering or technology organizations.
• Strong experience in spend management, workforce planning, forecasting, AOP/LRP, and financial modeling.
• High level of business acumen with strong analytical and process‑improvement capabilities.
• Exceptional communication, executive presence, influencing, and storytelling skills.
• Ability to anticipate needs, prioritize effectively, and operate in a fast‑moving environment.
• Strong people leadership and stakeholder‑management capabilities.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint, with experience using BI/data analytics tools.
• Open to considering candidates for San Jose, CA or Irvine, CA

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary finance partner for Product & Engineering budget management.
• Partner closely with Product group executives to translate business and product strategies into financial plans.
• Manage team of 5 financial analysts to support respective functions.
• Responsible for overall headcount planning, non‑labor forecasting, and capital expenditure reporting.
• Develop concise, executive‑level reporting on R&D spend, trends, risks, opportunities.
• Lead monthly review meetings with VP and SVP level staff of R&D orgs.
• Review and approve month‑end journal entries related to service POs.
• Partner with business operations teams to understand program level forecasts.

Skills

Finance/FP&A leadership

Budgeting & forecasting

Executive communication & storytelling

Strategic partnering

Education

Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting

MBA / CFA preferred

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

BI analytics tools

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

The Director of Finance will serve as the primary finance lead supporting the Product & Engineering organization. This role is responsible for end-to-end budget planning and analysis, working with senior business partners to enable informed, timely decision‑making.

As the key finance partner to Product & Engineering organization, this leader will collaborate closely with leadership of R&D, Product Management, and Corporate Finance to proactively drive operational excellence for OpEx, CapEx, and Headcount planning.

Essential duties and responsibilities

• Serve as the primary finance partner for Product & Engineering budget management.
• Partner closely with Product group executives to translate business and product strategies into financial plans.
• Manage team of 5 financial analysts to support respective functions.
• Responsible for overall headcount planning, non‑labor forecasting, and capital expenditure reporting.
• Develop concise, executive‑level reporting on R&D spend, trends, risks, opportunities.
• Lead monthly review meetings with VP and SVP level staff of R&D orgs.
• Review and approve month‑end journal entries related to service POs.
• Partner with business operations teams to understand program level forecasts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting; MBA, CFA, or equivalent advanced qualification preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive Finance/FP&A experience, with significant experience supporting R&D, Product, Engineering or technology organizations.
• Strong experience in spend management, workforce planning, forecasting, AOP/LRP, and financial modeling.
• High level of business acumen with strong analytical and process‑improvement capabilities.
• Exceptional communication, executive presence, influencing, and storytelling skills.
• Ability to anticipate needs, prioritize effectively, and operate in a fast‑moving environment.
• Strong people leadership and stakeholder‑management capabilities.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint, with experience using BI/data analytics tools.
• Open to considering candidates for San Jose, CA or Irvine, CA

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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 be 3 months from posting, 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].