Director, Supply Chain - Demand and Supply Planning

Job Description

The Director of Demand and Supply Planning will lead creation of the operations demand signal and inventory management for our Hard Disk Drive (HDD) product portfolio. This role is responsible for ensuring that customer demand signals are accurately captured and translated into executable manufacturing and component supply plans across a complex, multi-tier global supply chain.

The Director will play a critical role in aligning demand signals with wafer starts, component procurement, and factory builds, ensuring optimal service levels while balancing cost, inventory, and capacity utilization. This position requires understanding of HDD manufacturing cycles, component dependencies (e.g., media, heads, actuators, PCBs), and the dynamics of data center, OEM, and channel markets.

• Lead the end-to-end global HDD demand planning process, integrating sales, marketing, and customer forecasts into a consolidated global view.
• Analyze demand patterns across data center, cloud, OEM, and consumer channels.
• Develop advanced statistical forecasting models that incorporate shipment history, product transitions, and customer order behavior.
• Partner with Sales, Product Management, and Finance to align demand signals with market trends, capacity plans, and corporate targets.

• Partner with BU, Sales and Customer Operations teams for supply allocation during constrained environments
• Manage the execution of constrained supply across customers and lead allocation decisions during demand surges or component shortages.
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, and Procurement to mitigate supply risks and ensure delivery continuity.
• Drive the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, integrating supply, demand, and financial perspectives into a single operating plan.

• Define and manage global inventory policies, safety stocks, and buffer strategies to achieve service level targets with minimal working capital.
• Lead initiatives to reduce excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory, especially during product transitions and end-of-life cycles.
• Collaborate with factory operations to optimize production loading, capacity utilization, and lead times.

• Build and lead a high-performing global planning team located across regional sites
• Partner with IT and data analytics teams to enhance planning tools

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration, or a related technical field.
• Master’s degree in Supply Chain/Industrial Engineering preferred.

• 7+ years of experience in supply chain planning within HDD, storage devices, or semiconductor/electronics manufacturing
  .
• Strong understanding of HDD manufacturing processes and component interdependencies.
• Proven success in leading global demand and supply planning, inventory optimization, and S&OP/IBP frameworks.
• Experience working with advanced planning tools

• End-to-End Supply Chain Leadership
• Demand Forecasting & Statistical Modeling
• Capacity & Materials Planning (Heads/Media/PCBs)
• Data-Driven Decision Making & Analytics
• Cross-Functional Collaboration (Sales, Operations, Engineering)
• Risk Mitigation & Business Continuity Planning
• Lean/Six Sigma or Continuous Improvement mindset

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…