Job DescriptionThe Communications Manager is an embedded communications partner for WD's Product and Engineering org. You will design and deliver employee-facing communications that keep engineers, product teams, and technical leaders aligned to strategy, connected to culture, and ready for change-operating with speed and rigor in a complex, innovation-led environment.
You'll report to the Director, Strategic Communications - Product & Engineering, who owns end-to-end strategic communications for the product org (executive comms, external narrative, enterprise alignment).
You operationalize and activate that strategy at the org level, owning channels, cadences, campaigns, and leader support for the P&E organization.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
Communication Strategy & Planning
- Build and execute the P&E internal communications strategy and calendar aligned to WD's product roadmap, operating model, and growth priorities.
- Translate corporate and product strategy into clear, employee-ready narratives for technical audiences.
- Own communications intake, prioritization, and sequencing for P&E, balancing urgency, impact, and employee capacity to ensure clarity and reduce noise.
Leader Advisory & Executive-Ready Content
- Draft and ghostwrite org-wide emails, updates, narratives, Q&As, and presentations for P&E leaders, often working from high-level inputs and shaping them into clear, employee-ready content.
- Coach leaders on tone, clarity, and cadence to strengthen credibility and trust.
Content Creation & Writing
- Write, edit, and publish high-quality employee-facing content across multiple formats, including org-wide emails, articles, newsletters, messaging, narratives, and campaign materials.
- Serve as a hands-on writer for the P&E organization with a focus on -owning first drafts and final copy, not just review or approvals.
- Translate complex product, engineering, and operating model topics into clear, engaging, and accessible stories for technical and non-technical audiences alike.
Channel & Event Management
- Act as editor-in-chief for P&E channels (e.g., SharePoint, Teams, newsletters), ensuring message discipline and reduced noise.
- Maintain a consistent cadence of written communications that keeps P&E employees informed, aligned, and engaged-balancing clarity, brevity, and narrative coherence.
- Produce, project manage and run the P&E All Hands/Ask Me Anythings, including content, logistics, delivery and follow up.
Change & Transformation Communications
- Lead communications for P&E change (reorgs, mechanism rollouts, operating model shifts), connecting the "what/why/so what" to business outcomes.
- Partner tightly with HR, and program leads to plan sequencing and ensure a successful campaign.
- Proactively identify emerging issues, points of employee confusion, or change risks within P&E; surface insights and recommendations to leaders to enable timely, confident action.
Storytelling, Culture & Engagement
- Source and elevate stories about product milestones, engineering innovation, and culture moments that show how our values come to life (Customers, Results, Connection, Excellence, Innovation).
- Share product stories across WD to showcase innovation, strengthen company-wide understanding of our roadmap and deepen connection to our mission and values.
Measurement & Insights
- Set targets and analyze channel/event metrics, pulse feedback, and sentiment; recommend improvements that increase reach, comprehension, and action.
Partnership & Governance
- Serve as a connector between Strategic Comms, P&E leadership, HR, Internal Comms and Corporate Comms, and program teams to maintain alignment with WD's broader narrative, mission, and brand standards.
QualificationsWhat You'll Bring
Required
- 8+ years in employee/internal communications (or adjacent roles) with proven success in complex, technical organizations.
- Exceptional writing and editing skills; ability to translate engineering/product topics into clear, human centered messages.
- Demonstrated experience planning and executing change communications across large, distributed teams.
- Strong stakeholder management and consultative skills; confident advising senior leaders and pushing back with data and rationale.
- Channel operations experience (SharePoint, Teams/Slack, newsletters, town halls); strong slides/story design in PowerPoint.
- Program/project management rigor and high attention to detail.
Preferred
- Fluency in the software/hardware product lifecycle, and data-center/cloud ecosystems.
- Familiarity with the role data storage plays in AI.
- Experience building measurement frameworks for internal communications (reach, engagement, comprehension, action).
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.
- 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 WD's 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 WD'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 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 Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company's sole discretion, consistent with the law.
