Director, Strategic Sourcing - Heads & Media

The Director, Strategic Sourcing – Heads & Media is responsible for leading the global sourcing strategy, supplier ecosystem, and business performance for Western Digital's Heads & Media commodity portfolio. This leader drives long-term competitive advantage through strategic supplier partnerships, cost transformation, risk mitigation, technology alignment, and supply assurance.

The role partners closely with Engineering, Operations, Product Development, Finance, and Executive Leadership to define and execute category strategies that support business growth, innovation, supply continuity, and financial performance. The Director leads a global team of sourcing professionals while serving as the executive point of contact for key suppliers and industry partners.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Category Leadership

• Define and execute global sourcing strategies and multi-year commodity roadmaps for Heads & Media.
• Align category strategies with enterprise objectives, technology roadmaps, product requirements, and business priorities.
• Lead long-range planning for supplier capacity, technology availability, geographic diversification, and risk mitigation.
• Monitor industry, market, macroeconomic, and competitive trends to identify opportunities and threats.
Supplier Relationship Management

• Serve as executive sponsor for strategic Heads & Media suppliers.
• Drive supplier segmentation, governance models, executive business reviews, and performance management.
• Develop collaborative partnerships that enable innovation, technology leadership, quality improvement, and cost competitiveness.
• Lead supplier escalation management and corrective action initiatives.
Commercial & Cost Leadership

• Deliver annual cost reduction, productivity, and value engineering targets.
• Lead complex commercial negotiations, long-term agreements, pricing strategies, and business allocation decisions.
• Develop should-cost models, market intelligence insights, and benchmarking analyses.
• Drive total cost of ownership optimization across the supply base.
Risk & Supply Continuity

• Identify and proactively manage risks associated with supply continuity, capacity constraints, geopolitical events, financial stability, and compliance.
• Develop resilient sourcing strategies including dual sourcing, regional diversification, and contingency planning.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations teams to ensure uninterrupted business continuity.
Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Product Development, Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, and Legal teams.
• Influence product design decisions through Design-to-Cost, supplier innovation, and technology roadmaps.
• Drive alignment between sourcing strategies and manufacturing requirements.
Organization & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing global sourcing organization.
• Create succession plans and leadership development pipelines.
• Establish clear goals, accountability, and performance expectations.
• Foster a culture of execution, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Leadership Expectations

The Director is expected to:

• Translate enterprise strategy into actionable business priorities.
• Lead change and transformation initiatives across the organization.
• Influence executive-level stakeholders and drive enterprise-wide decisions.
• Demonstrate strong executive presence internally and externally.
• Balance strategic vision with operational execution.
• Promote an enterprise-first mindset and cross-functional collaboration.
• Foster innovation and challenge existing business models to improve results.
Skills & Competencies

Strategic Leadership

• Strategic sourcing and category management expertise
• Enterprise thinking and long-term planning
• Change leadership and organizational transformation
• Executive decision-making and business judgment
Commercial Excellence

• Executive-level negotiation and contracting
• Cost modeling and financial analysis
• Market intelligence and industry expertise
• Total cost of ownership optimization
Supplier Management

• Executive relationship management
• Supplier performance management
• Supplier innovation and technology partnerships
• Risk assessment and mitigation
Leadership Effectiveness

• Talent development and coaching
• Organizational design and resource optimization
• Cross-functional influence without authority
• Executive communication and storytelling
Business Acumen

• Strong financial and operational understanding
• Strategic investment and ROI evaluation
• Data-driven decision making
• Governance and compliance management

Function: Supply Chain
Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level