Director, Benefits
San Jose, CA - USA
Job Summary
WD is seeking an experienced and strategic Director Benefits to lead the design delivery and evolution of our global benefits and wellbeing programs. This role serves as the Center of Excellence (CoE) leader for benefits strategy owning direct program accountability for the United States and EMEA regions while providing CoE oversight and governance for APAC benefits operations. The Director will also own WDs global employee wellbeing strategy ensuring programs are impactful inclusive and aligned with our Total Rewards philosophy.
This is a high-visibility role that partners closely with HR Business Partners Finance Legal and external vendors to ensure our benefits offerings attract and retain top talent across a diverse global workforce.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
US Benefits Leadership
Own end-to-end strategy design and administration of all US benefit programs including medical dental vision life and disability insurance flexible spending accounts (FSA/HSA) 401(k)/retirement plans leave of absence policies and voluntary benefits.
Lead the annual US benefits renewal process including vendor selection RFP management cost modeling and executive presentations.
Ensure full compliance with applicable regulations including ACA ERISA HIPAA COBRA FMLA and other federal and state requirements.
Partner with Legal and Finance to manage plan documents SPDs 5500 filings and non-discrimination testing.
EMEA Benefits Leadership
Provide strategic oversight and hands-on management of benefit programs across EMEA countries.
Partner with regional HR teams local brokers and legal counsel to ensure programs are locally compliant market-competitive and aligned to the global Total Rewards philosophy.
Lead benchmarking and market analysis for EMEA programs to proactively identify gaps and opportunities.
Manage relationships with EMEA benefits brokers and insurers driving accountability for service delivery and cost effectiveness.
APAC Benefits CoE Governance
Serve as the global CoE authority for benefits strategy and governance providing APAC regional HR teams with frameworks policies standards and tools to deliver locally relevant programs.
Conduct periodic governance reviews of APAC benefits programs to assess alignment with global philosophy cost trends and compliance posture.
Support APAC teams on complex or escalated program design questions M&A activity and new country expansions.
Global Wellbeing Strategy
Design and champion WDs global employee wellbeing strategy encompassing physical mental financial and social wellbeing pillars.
Manage wellbeing vendor ecosystem including EAP mental health platforms financial wellness tools and onsite/virtual wellness programs.
Build and execute a wellbeing communications and engagement calendar to drive participation and program awareness globally.
Measure and report on wellbeing program effectiveness through utilization data employee surveys and ROI analysis.
Partner with internal stakeholders (ERGs HRBP Communications) to build a culture of wellbeing at WD.
Team & Vendor Leadership
Lead develop and mentor a team of benefits professionals.
Manage a portfolio of external vendors consultants and brokers holding partners accountable to SLAs innovation and cost performance.
Define operational workflows in partnership with HR Shared Services (People Operations/AskHR) to ensure seamless employee experience for benefits transactions and inquiries.
Qualifications :
Required
Bachelors degree in Human Resources Business Administration Finance or a related field
7-10 years of progressive benefits experience including at least 3 years in a leadership role
Demonstrated experience managing US benefits programs in a large complex organization (5000 employees)
Experience managing EMEA benefits across multiple countries
Strong working knowledge of US benefits compliance (ERISA ACA HIPAA COBRA FMLA)
Proven ability to lead vendor negotiations RFPs and contract management
Experience designing or managing employee wellbeing programs
Strong analytical skills with ability to build business cases and present to senior leaders
Excellent communication stakeholder management and influencing skills
Additional Information :
WD 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 persons gender identity gender expression and gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the persons 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 poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.
WD 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.
WD 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 to advise us of your accommodation 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 1/9/27 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.
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Compensation & Benefits Details
- An employees 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.
- If your position is non-exempt you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws. You may also be eligible for shift differential pay depending on the shift to which you are assigned.
You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either WDs Short Term Incentive Plan (STI Plan) or the Sales Incentive Plan (SIP) 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 WDs 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 WD 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 Companys sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Companys sole discretion consistent with the law.
Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that WD and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests please report it immediately to WD Ethics Helpline or email .
Remote Work :
No
Employment Type :
Full-time
About Company
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 ... View more