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Director & Senior Legal Counsel

Western Digital


Job Location:

Irvine, CA - USA

Monthly Salary: Not provided by the employer
Posted: 13 August 2026 (30+ days ago)
Application Deadline: 10 November 2026
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

WD is seeking an experienced and commercially astute Director & Senior Legal Counsel to join its Global Commercial Legal this high-impact role you will serve as a trusted legal partner to WDs Worldwide Sales and Marketing Organization providing sophisticated legal advice across a broad range of commercial transactions. You will play a central role in shaping go-to-market strategies managing commercial risk and supporting commercial operational excellence.

This position requires a lawyer who combines deep transactional expertise with strong business judgment the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment and a genuine commitment to delivering practical strategic legal solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Transactions & Contract Negotiation

  • Draft review negotiate and finalize a wide range of commercial sales and customer agreements including master purchasing agreements distribution agreements nondisclosure agreements statements of work amendments and related business documents.
  • Partner closely with business stakeholders to evaluate transaction risks develop practical risk mitigation strategies and drive deals to close efficiently.

Go-to-Market & Strategic Support

  • Advise on and support the development of go-to-market strategies from a legal perspective including drafting enabling agreements and engaging cross-functionally to assess and address legal and business risks.
  • Review and contribute to responses to customer RFPs and RFQs in collaboration with internal teams across sales finance and operations.

Contract Management & Process Improvement

  • Support and enhance end-to-end contract management process including the development and maintenance of strategic playbooks standard templates and contract lifecycle management (CLM) workflows related to sales transactions.
  • Champion the use of technology and process innovation to improve efficiency and consistency across the global commercial legal function.
  • Oversee and provide quality guidance to contract administrators and managers within the commercial organization as needed.

Special Projects

  • Lead or contribute to special legal and business initiatives as assigned demonstrating flexibility and a collaborative approach across the broader legal team.

Qualifications :

Required

  • Experience: 8 or more years of relevant transactional legal experience in a law firm in-house legal department or government legal setting with a demonstrated track record of drafting reviewing and negotiating complex commercial and sales-related agreements.
  • License: Current member in good standing of a U.S. State Bar or Registered In-House Counsel in California (or eligible therefor); Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school or its equivalent.
  • Subject Matter Knowledge: Working knowledge of U.S. consumer protection competition and intellectual property laws.
  • Language: Professional fluency in English both written and verbal.

Preferred

  • Experience working in or with technology companies or the broader technology industry.
  • Additional language proficiency is a plus.

Competencies & Success Factors

  • Business Partnership: Ability to engage deeply with business objectives translate legal risk into actionable strategy and serve as a trusted advisor rather than a gatekeeper
  • Transactional Excellence: Consistent delivery of high-quality timely work product across a broad range of commercial matters
  • Independent Judgment: Proven ability to operate autonomously manage competing priorities and exercise sound judgment with limited supervision
  • Collaboration: Effective cross-functional partner who builds trust with internal stakeholders teammates and outside counsel; comfortable working across cultures and time zones
  • Communication: Clear concise and respectful communicator both one-on-one and in group settings
  • Leadership & Mentorship: Willingness to guide and develop less experienced counsel and contract administrators; leads by example
  • Detail & Rigor: Strong analytical skills and meticulous attention to detail in all work product
  • Integrity: Unwavering commitment to WDs corporate values ethics and Code of Conduct
  • Adaptability: Thrives in a demanding high-volume environment while maintaining quality and positive relationships
  • Growth Mindset: Self-motivated resourceful and enthusiastic about continuous learning and improvement

About WDs Legal Team

WDs Legal department operates as a strategic business partner across a global fast-moving technology company. Our commercial legal team supports one of the worlds leading data infrastructure businesses working at the intersection of technology commerce and law. We value lawyers who are intellectually curious business-minded and committed to excellence.


Additional Information :

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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 09/8/2026 (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.

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

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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

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