Supply Chain Program Manager

As a Supply Chain Program Manager in the Supply Chain Center of Excellence, you will work alongside some of the most experienced and accomplished minds across Western Digital's Supply Chain functions, while engaging with the newest and most cutting-edge ideas in the field. Your role is to bring the two together, combining proven expertise with emerging thinking so that they work in harmony and deliver results. 

You will be awarded opportunities across the full spectrum of Supply Chain functions, engaging with established leaders in Logistics, Direct Procurement, Indirect Procurement, Planning, Risk and Resiliency, Operations and beyond. Rather than relying on authority, you will build consensus through influence and persuasion, grounded in both hard facts and qualitative insight. Success depends on strong dependency management, stakeholder alignment and clear communication across functions that may have other priorities. 

How we Operate 

These are the behaviors expected every day. They map to the WD Leadership Expectations and define the standard that this position role models for the wider team. 

• Own the outcome, not the tracker. The plan is an instrument. The measure is whether the ramp landed on time, at cost and at quality. 
• Champion clear decisions. Most Program delay is undecided, not unknown. Frame the choice, name the decider, get it made and record it. 
• Manage the seams. Functions are usually competent inside their own boundary. Programs fail between them, which is where the Program Manager works. 
• Escalate early with a recommendation. Raise it when there is still room to act, and bring the option you would choose. 
• Be direct and transparent about status. Green that turns red without warning destroys credibility permanently. Report what is, not what is hoped. 
• Influence without direct line authority. Nobody on the Program reports to you. Credibility, preparation and reliability are the only levers — build them deliberately. 
• Close the loop. A Program that ends without lessons captured has spent the organization’s learning and kept none of it 
Key Responsibilities 

Strong Program Management Skills 

• Integrated planning and governance. Own the master plan, milestones, dependencies, owners, RAID log and steering committee cadence across all workstreams, with an independent view of status. 
• Scope, schedule and budget control. Protect the baseline, manage change through a disciplined process, and keep the program on time and on budget. 
• Risk and decision management. Surface risks early, frame decisions with options and a recommendation, and record outcomes so they are not relitigated. 
• Run the Program cadence at the right rhythm for the phase 
• Maintain a single source of truth for Program status 
• Define and enforce entry and exit criteria at each gate 
Program Portfolio Leadership and Team Development 

• Own a portfolio of supply chain Programs, including major ramps and transitions of high complexity 
• Lead, coach and develop the Program Managers running them, building advanced proficiency across the Program management toolkit 
• Set the Program management standard for the function: plans, cadence, gates, reporting and post-Program review 
• Frame executive decisions, manage complex risk and drive cross-functional alignment without authority 
Stakeholder Alignment 

• Cross-functional alignment. Bring together Legal, Direct Materials, Indirect Procurement, Logistics, Sales, Finance and IT, each with different contract types, risk tolerances and priorities. 
• Balancing competing priorities. Reconcile Legal’s risk posture, Procurement’s efficiency goals and the business’s need for speed into decisions all parties can support. 
• Composure with difficult stakeholders. Remain calm, respectful and fact-based when challenged; depersonalize conflict and keep the focus on outcomes. 
• Earned trust and sponsorship. Involve skeptics early, give them a real voice in design, and use executive sponsors and escalation paths deliberately. 
Cross-Functional Dependency Management 

• Map dependencies across Sourcing, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Planning and suppliers 
• Track dependency status and drive owners to their commitments 
• Resolve cross-functional conflicts at the working level where possible 
• Escalate blocked dependencies with the decision required clearly stated 
Risk and Decision Management 

• Maintain a live Program risk register with owners, mitigations and trigger points 
• Run scenario analysis on the risks that could move the Program 
• Frame decisions clearly: the choice, the options, the trade-offs, the recommendation, the decider 
• Track decisions and their rationale so they are not relitigated 
Delivery and Adoption Discipline 

• Fit to standard. Champion out-of-the-box capability and challenge customization that adds cost and risk without clear value. 
• Testing and cutover. Lead system integration and user acceptance testing, data migration validation and a well-rehearsed go-live. 
• Adoption and value. Drive training, change champions and adoption metrics such as contract cycle time, and confirm the business case is realized. 
• Measure adoption and sustainment, and reinforce new behaviors until they become the way Western Digital works 
Change management  

• Lead organizational change that turns new processes, tools and ways of working into lasting habits across the enterprise 
• Build a compelling case for change and inspire stakeholders at every level, from executive sponsors to frontline teams 
• Design adoption roadmaps with clear communication, training and engagement plans that bring people along, not just systems 
• Identify and empower change champions who carry new practices into their own functions and regions 
• Anticipate resistance early and turn skeptics into advocates through listening, evidence and quick wins 
Executive Communication and Decision Framing 

• Report Program status honestly, concisely and consistently 
• Frame executive decisions with the choice, options, trade-offs and a recommendation 
• Run executive forums that produce decisions rather than updates 
• Manage expectations early rather than explaining misses afterwards 
• Executive communication. Deliver concise, candid status that lets sponsors act quickly and with confidence. 
• Governance.  Run a structured governance process to include daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly core team and steering Committee meetings 
• Collateral development. Create update templates and work individually and with team members to create executive communication collateral 
Program Analytics and Reporting 

• Build and maintain readiness and status dashboards 
• Use data rather than narrative to drive Program conversations 
• Track leading indicators, not just milestone completion 
• Adopt tooling, automation, and AI that reduce reporting effort 
Post-Program Learning 

• Run honest post-Program reviews covering what worked and what did not 
• Convert lessons into process change with the relevant process owner 
• Share learning across the Program community 
• Improve templates, gates and standards based on what was learned 
Business Process Transformation 

• Champion innovation by challenging how work is done today and envisioning how it should be done tomorrow 
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize and digitize end-to-end business processes across supply chain functions 
• Oversee transformation projects from concept through delivery, ensuring they meet scope, schedule and value commitments 
• Partner with IT and business owners to align process redesign with enabling systems, data and AI capabilities 
• Measure the impact of each transformation and feed the lessons into the next wave of improvement 
What would success look like 

• Big bets that land. Bold programs and transformations delivered on time, on budget and at the quality customers expect. 
• Problems solved before they surface. Risks and gaps spotted early and closed well ahead of the moment they could hurt the business. 
• A supply chain ready for what's next. Capacity, capability and technology in place before demand arrives, not after. 
• Change without chaos. New processes, tools and transitions rolled out smoothly, with no disruption to customers and no value left on the table. 
• A voice leaders trust. Reporting so candid and reliable that there are never surprises, and status always reflects reality. 
• Decisions made in the room. Choices framed so clearly that leaders can act on the spot and keep momentum high. 
• A legacy that compounds. Every lesson turned into a lasting standard, so each program makes the next one faster, smarter and better.

Function: Supply Chain
Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level