Sr. Program Manager, Sustainability Reporting and Engagement

Trellis Group; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic sustainability firm in San Jose is seeking a Sr. Program Manager to develop ESG policies and manage annual sustainability reports. The ideal candidate will have at least 7 years in sustainability and be skilled in key frameworks like GRI, TCFD, and SASB. Responsibilities include engaging stakeholders and ensuring regulatory compliance. This role offers an opportunity to be at the forefront of sustainability initiatives and drive meaningful change.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in sustainability policy, reporting, and disclosures.
• Expert level involvement in Annual Sustainability report process.
• Experience with voluntary ESG rating platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine ESG policies.
• Project manage annual sustainability reports.
• Engage stakeholders on sustainability topics.

Skills

Clear narrative development

Project management skills

Knowledge of ESG methodologies

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Sustainability or related field

Master’s degree

Tools

GRI

TCFD

SASB

CDP

MSCI

S&P CSA

Job description

Sr. Program Manager, Sustainability Reporting and Engagement

San Jose, CA

Company Description

At Western Digital, our vision is to power global innovation and push the boundaries of technology to make what you thought was once impossible, possible.

At our core, Western Digital is a company of problem solvers. People achieve extraordinary things given the right technology. For decades, we’ve been doing just that—our technology helped people put a man on the moon and capture the first-ever picture of a black hole.

We offer an expansive portfolio of technologies, HDDs, and platforms for business, creative professionals, and consumers alike under our Western Digital®, WD®, WD_BLACK™, and SanDisk® Professional brands.

We are a key partner to some of the largest and highest-growth organizations in the world. From enabling systems to make cities safer and more connected, to powering the data centers behind many of the world’s biggest companies and hyperscale cloud providers, to meeting the massive and ever-growing data storage needs of the AI era, Western Digital is fueling a brighter, smarter future.

Today’s exceptional challenges require your unique skills. Together, we can build the future of data storage.

Job Description

We are seeking a Sr. Program Manager, Sustainability Reporting and Engagement to join our dynamic sustainability team. This individual will be responsible for developing and refining our ESG policies, project managing our annual sustainability reports, preparing disclosures for third-party ESG ratings and rankings, and supporting our regulatory compliance strategies and workstreams. The role also involves stakeholder engagement, such as engaging employees, cross-functional departments, and external communities on sustainability related work and topics.

The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of key sustainability frameworks (e.g. SASB, TCFD, GRI) and ratings (CDP, S&P CSA, MSCI, Sustainalytics), combined with technical writing capabilities and strong project management skills.

Sustainability policies:

• Evolve and refine our comprehensive ESG policies, including human rights policy and environmental policies.
• Conduct benchmarking analysis and identify policy improvement opportunities.
• Manage internal and external publication of ESG policies.
• Integrate ESG guidelines into other company policies.

ESG reporting and disclosure:

• Project manage the preparation and publication of annual sustainability reports, aligning with key reporting frameworks such as GRI, TCFD, and SASB. This includes engaging internal stakeholders to gather high-quality and meaningful content, managing external consultants, drafting compelling and fit-for-purpose narratives, and driving timely delivery of the report.
• Coordinate with ESG data owners, Internal Audit and Legal teams, and 3rd party auditors to ensure timely data submission to all ESG reports and disclosures.

ESG ratings and rankings:

• Help develop strategies on ESG ratings participation.
• Prepare, analyze, and submit ESG disclosures to voluntary ratings platforms, including CDP, S&P CSA, MSCI, and other reputable rating agencies.
• Conduct thorough reviews of ESG ratings feedback and develop action plans to address areas of improvement, enhancing overall performance in future rating cycles.

Sustainability regulatory compliance:

• Stay informed on the latest developments in global sustainability disclosure regulations and requirements (e.g., CSRD, California Climate Accountability Package, CSDDD, etc.).
• Support development of compliance strategies and roadmap.
• Support regulatory gap assessments and gap closure workstreams, such as double materiality assessment, EU taxonomy analysis, and climate risk assessment and mitigation.
• Support compliant reporting development and submission.
• Engage relevant teams to build WD’s position, POVs, and strategy on key ESG topics.
• Engage ESG rating agencies to stay on top of evolving scoring rubrics and improve our scores.
• Engage external communities to amplify WD sustainability performance.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Sustainability, Environmental Science or a related field. Master’s degree is a plus.
• Advanced certifications or qualifications in sustainability (e.g., standards, ESG certifications) are a plus.
• 7+ years of experience in sustainability policy, reporting and disclosures, or a related field.
• Expert level involvement in the Annual Sustainability report preparation/publication process, in a large corporation.
• Proven expertise in key ESG frameworks (GRI, TCFD, SASB, etc.), including a strong understanding of their requirements and application in reporting.
• Experience with voluntary ESG rating platforms such as CDP, MSCI, S&P CSA, and others, with a proven track record in preparing and submitting reports.

Skills:

• Ability to develop clear, accurate, and comprehensive narratives.
• Knowledge of ESG ratings methodologies and how to construct responses and identify gaps relative to rating agency rubrics.
• Demonstrated ability to instill trust and develop and maintain strong working relationships with internal stakeholders across multiple functional units and external vendors, suppliers, and strategic partners.
• Natural affinity to be reflective, to learn from challenges and demonstrate resilience.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple reporting deadlines and ensure timely submissions.