Director, Sustainability Disclosure and Ratings

Western Digital is seeking a Director for Sustainability Disclosure and Ratings in Annapolis, MD. The role involves managing ESG disclosure strategy, ensuring compliance with sustainability standards, and preparing content for third-party ratings. The ideal candidate should have expertise in sustainability frameworks and strong technical writing skills. Responsibilities include ESG reporting, data management, and collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure accurate and reliable sustainability metrics.
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 Director for Sustainability Disclosures and Ratings to join our dynamic sustainability team. This individual will be responsible for managing and driving our ESG disclosure strategy, ensuring compliance with international sustainability standards, preparing disclosures and narratives for third-party ESG ratings agencies and leading the content creation showcasing WD leadership through vehicles such as position paper, white papers and blogs. The role also involves active internal stakeholder engagement and building content to improve employee engagement on sustainability related work and topics. The role is also responsible for Assurance processes associated with disclosures, both internal and external. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of key sustainability frameworks such as GRI, ESRS, TCFD, CSRD, and others, combined with technical writing capabilities and critical thinking skills to interpret complex data and craft clear, insightful narratives. This role requires an individual who can not only manage the nuances of sustainability reporting but also actively challenge data, ensuring accuracy and credibility in all submissions.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. ESG Reporting and Disclosure:

2. Prepare, analyze, and submit ESG performance and disclosures to voluntary ratings platforms, including CDP, S&P CSA, MSCI, and other third-party ESG rating agencies.

3. Lead the preparation and submission of annual sustainability reports, aligning with key reporting frameworks such as GRI, TCFD, CSRD, ESRS, SASB, and others and aligning the internal WD functions all the way to executive leadership team and Board expectations

4. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to collect and validate data, ensuring all required metrics and information are accurate and up to date.

5. ESG Data Management and Analysis:

6. Review and analyze data from various sources across the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) pillars to ensure it is complete and reliable.

7. Identify areas for improvement or gaps in data collection and work with internal teams to address them.

8. Analyze ESG data in the context of broader sustainability goals and help to translate this information into actionable insights for reporting and continuous improvement.

9. Collaborate with internal and external audit and assurance practices and processes to enhance the quality and fidelity of our disclosures

10. Narrative Development:

11. Craft compelling and transparent narratives for sustainability reports, ensuring alignment with best practices and disclosure requirements of key frameworks (GRI, TCFD, CSRD, etc.).

12. Collaborate with sustainability leaders and other stakeholders to interpret and articulate ESG initiatives, progress, and results, ensuring clarity and accuracy in all written materials.

13. Provide clear, concise, and strategic commentary on ESG performance, highlighting key achievements, challenges, and future goals.

14. Stakeholder Engagement:

15. Act as a primary point of contact for ESG ratings agencies, ensuring timely and accurate submission of performance data and responding to any follow-up queries.

16. Support internal and external communications related to ESG disclosures, ensuring consistent messaging across all channels.

17. Compliance and Standards related reporting readiness:

18. Stay informed on the latest developments in sustainability standards, frameworks, and regulatory requirements, ensuring the company's disclosures comply with all relevant laws and guidelines (e.g., CSRD, TCFD).

19. Drive internal preparedness and readiness towards meeting such standards

20. Provide guidance and thought leadership on best practices for ESG reporting and disclosure, helping to ensure our approach is industry-leading and transparent.

21. Look ahead and prepare reporting and disclosure work that enables WD's readiness to comply to future regulations / obligations

22. Continuous Improvement:

23. Lead efforts to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of ESG disclosures, including implementing new tools or processes for data collection, analysis, and reporting.

24. Conduct thorough reviews of ESG ratings feedback and develop action plans to address areas of improvement, enhancing overall performance in future rating cycles.

25. Stakeholder engagement:

26. Develop and execute internal stakeholder engagement strategies that align with ESG priorities and corporate sustainability goals.

27. Represent the company in standards/ multi-stakeholder collaborations , fostering alignment and shared impact across sectors.
• Qualifications

REQUIRED

+ Bachelor's degree in Sustainability, Environmental Science or a related field. Advanced certifications or qualifications in sustainability (e.g., Standards, ESG certifications) are a plus

+ 12+ years of experience in sustainability reporting, ESG 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, ESRS, TCFD, CSRD, 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

+ Strong ability to relate sustainability narratives and data points and weave compelling stories to bring light to the body of work

+ Ability to develop clear, accurate, and comprehensive narratives based on complex data.

+ Detail-oriented with the ability to critically assess and challenge data to ensure integrity and transparency in all reports.

+ Knowledge of ESG ratings methodologies and how to construct responses and identify gaps relative to rating agency rubrics.

+ Demonstrated experience with and commitment to mentoring, developing, inspiring, and managing a high-performance and collaborative international team

+ Experience building strong relationships within a team to facilitate a collaborative, trusting, and supportive environment

+ 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

+ Familiarity with sustainability reporting software or tools (e.g., Metrio, IBM Envizi, Power BI, etc.).

+ Ability to stay up to date with changing regulations and ESG trends in the global marketplace.

+ Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple reporting deadlines and ensure timely submissions.
• Additional Information

Western Digital 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 (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088\_EEOC\_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf) " poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OFCCP/pdf/pay-transp\_%20English\_formattedESQA508c.pdf) .

Western Digital 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.

Western Digital 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 jobs.accommodations@wdc.com 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 08/06/2025 (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.

#LI-VV1
• 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.

+ You will be eligible to participate in Western Digital's Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, 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 Western Digital'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 Western Digital 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.