Senior Executive Sourcer

WD; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

WD is seeking a Senior Executive Sourcer to lead strategic talent discovery for executive roles across WD’s global organization. You will map markets, build repeatable sourcing systems, and partner with senior leaders to accelerate leadership hiring using AI-powered methods.

You will develop market intelligence, engage top executives, and craft long-term talent pools to support speed and quality of hires in a dynamic AI infrastructure domain.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent required.
• 7+ years in sourcing or recruiting for technology leadership roles.
• Proven track record in market mapping and executive candidate generation (Sr. Director to C-suite).
• Deep expertise in advanced Boolean search and access to executive talent channels (Pitchbook, Crunchbase).
• Hands-on experience building or leveraging AI-powered sourcing workflows and tools.
• Experience using AI development environments or coding assistants to create repeatable sourcing workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead top-of-funnel strategy with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles.
• Deliver market mapping across AI Infrastructure by company, skillset, geography, and org structure.
• Attract and engage via advanced sourcing channels to identify elite executive talent.
• Create and manage long-term talent pools for speed of hire and succession planning.
• Design AI-powered sourcing workflows and automations to boost productivity.
• Coach recruiters and hiring managers with market insights and sourcing best practices.
• Collaborate with Talent Intelligence and Employer Brand to optimize recruiting strategies.

Skills

Executive sourcing

Market mapping

Boolean search

AI in recruiting

Slide deck creation

Executive talent networks

Talent pipeline development

Talent intelligence

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent

Tools

Pitchbook

Crunchbase

The Org

Claude Code

OpenAI Codex

Cursor

GitHub Copilot

ChatGPT

Gemini

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

We’re looking for a Senior Executive Sourcer who lives and breathes talent discovery - someone who can take complex and nuanced search requirements and translate it into a precision sourcing strategy. You’ll be the go‑to expert for executive talent market mapping, proactive candidate generation, and pipeline cultivation across multiple functions.

This is a strategic role where you will build market intelligence, relationships, and repeatable systems that fuel the executive recruiting practice and impact WD’s strategic direction. As a Senior Executive Sourcer, you'll serve as a strategic partner to the Director of Executive Recruiting, the VP of Global Talent and hiring leaders across WD. You will be expected to leverage modern AI tools and scalable sourcing practices to help us identify and hire world‑class executive talent. You will be at the table, operating with a leader mindset that helps drive decision‑making.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead Top of Funnel Strategy: Partner closely with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles and build deep, data‑informed sourcing strategies across multiple functions.
• Deliver Market Mapping: Develop comprehensive talent landscapes across the AI Infrastructure ecosystem by company, skillset, geography, and organizational structure; identify hidden talent pools, competitor insights, and emerging talent trends to inform recruiting strategy and workforce planning.
• Attract & Engage: Use advanced Boolean search techniques, sourcing platforms, and creative sourcing channels (The Org, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, conferences and more) to identify, engage, and attract exceptional executive technical talent.
• Create a Talent Pool Strategy: Cultivate long‑term relationships with passive and highly specialized executive talent to enable speed of hire and succession plan execution.
• Leverage AI to Efficiently Scale: Design, build, and continuously improve AI‑powered sourcing workflows, research agents, and practical automations that increase recruiting productivity, accelerate candidate discovery, enhance market intelligence, and improve operational efficiency.
• Be a Force Multiplier: Serve as the subject matter expert on strategic sourcing by coaching recruiters and hiring managers on market insights, sourcing strategy, talent availability, competitive intelligence, candidate engagement best practices, and emerging recruiting technologies.
• Partner Across COEs: Collaborate cross‑functionally with Talent Intelligence, Talent Acquisition Operations and Employer Brand teams to optimize recruiting strategies, outbound messaging, candidate experience, and operational excellence.

Qualifications

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
• 7+ years of sourcing experience (or recruiting and sourcing experience) for technology companies with a focus on leadership, executive talent and/or executive technologists.
• Proven track record in developing market mapping, competitive intelligence, and executive candidate generation (Sr. Director to C Suite)
• Deep expertise in advanced Boolean search and use of unique tools & methods to access executive talent (e.g., conference speakers, Pitchbook & Crunchbase)
• Demonstrated ability to influence executives with data to allow informed decision‑making
• Hands‑on experience building or leveraging AI‑powered sourcing workflows, agentic AI tools, workflow automations, or practical AI solutions that improve recruiting or business processes.
• Direct experience using AI development environments or coding assistants (such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar tools) to create repeatable sourcing workflows, structured research outputs, market intelligence, process automation, or operational documentation.
• Experience applying methods or building tools to manage & cultivate pools of talent
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to engage executive candidates and influence stakeholders.
• Fluent in developing slide presentations & documents to succinctly inform executive hiring managers & partners
• Strong judgment, curiosity, and a continuous improvement mindset with the ability to evaluate and adopt emerging AI technologies to improve recruiting outcomes.

Preferred Experience

• A combination of internal executive search and executive search firm experience
• Experience recruiting or sourcing for executives in AI Infrastructure or in the HDD/Storage Media vertical
• Previous work experience in a Research or Talent Intelligence role
• Prior team lead or supervisory experience

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.

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.
• 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].