Talent Program Manager - APAC (New Graduate talent pipeline)

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.

As the regional early career talent program manager, you are responsible for assisting functional managers in planning intern / NCG / early career talent and structuring talent management for succession within the organization. You will partner with Business Leaders, Technical Leaders, and Human Resources team to AWARD early career talent with an exceptional experience:

1. Analyze and determine intern / NCG / early career talent needs (i.e., head-count plan and skills) in the region.
2. Work with Human Resources to determine target university / industry groups for talent sourcing and incubation.
3. Arrange and implement technical development programs, processes, and training initiatives to support organizational strategies across HDD Operations Unit (OU) and Business Unit (BU).
4. Ready early career talent through engagement and leadership activities (i.e., mentorship, coaching, reverse mentoring, reverse classroom, employee resource group).
5. Develop relevant metrics to measure effectiveness of development programs and gather insights to fine-tune the intern / NCG / early career talent development program and engagement.  

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Consult on developing and deploying intern / NCG / early career talent strategy with business / functional leaders on a talent plan resulting in succeeding critical technical roles within the organization.

  • Collaborate with technical functional leaders in identifying required intern / NCG / early career talent headcount projections.
  • Partner with technical functional leaders in identifying core skills to be attained for intern / NCG / early career talent.
  • Partner with technical functional leaders in identifying and curating core elements in an intern / NCG / early career talent development plan.
  • Collaborate with learning specialists and learning management system (LMS) expertise to construct and deploy that development plan.
  • Define, develop, and deploy engagement programs for intern / NCG / early career talent, including participation in employee resource group (ERG) activities (e.g., We.Fuel), engaging intern / NCG / early career talent in developing training material (i.e., reverse classroom), and engaging intern / NCG / early career talent as coaches / mentors (i.e., reverse mentoring).
  • Measure effectiveness of development programs and engagement levels of intern / NCG / early career talent to provide insight to employee retention needs. This also includes conductive periodic listening sessions to gather feedback and suggestions for our talent development programs.
  • Program-manage intern / NCG / early career talent pipeline framework based on organization needs and technology changes.

• Partner with Human Resources team (e.g., Talent Acquisition, Talent Development and Inclusion, People Analytics, and HR Business Partners) to develop relevant policies and processes that enable and support an early career talent pipeline to succession planning. Utilize government funds / grants where applicable and available.

  • Collaborate with Functional Leaders and People Analytics team to analyze and chart intern / NCG / early career talent needs and demography across OU and BU.
  • Work with Human Resources University Relations team on collaboration projects, university engagement, curriculum influence, and talent market trends.
  • Assist HR Business Partners and Functional Leaders to understand talent development and management concepts, utilizing HR frameworks to address talent needs.
  • Collaborate with Total Rewards and Talent Development and Inclusion teams on intern / NCG / early career talent retention and rewards structure.
  • Collaborate with Human Resources and/or Government Relations team to understand availability of government funding support and application process and utilize available opportunities for people technical development purposes. This includes collaborative projects with varsity and vocational networks.

• Develop metrics to inform progress against talent strategy in support of critical technical role succession planning.

  • Learning transfer, knowledge capture, learning experience metrics.
  • Engagement metrics.
  • Skills metrics.

REQUIRED:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent certification in a Science / Technical Field or Human Resources Field; Master’s Degree preferred.
• At least 8-10 years of experience in technical position / work capacity, preferably in a manufacturing environment. Involvement in talent management or people development work would be a bonus.  HR Business Partners to technical function leaders may consider applying.
• Good understanding of current curriculum in universities. Strong working relationship with local universities a bonus.
• Sufficient technical understanding of the HDD industry, products and competitive landscape strongly preferred.
• Proven record of influencing, leading and facilitating strategic initiatives with senior executive stakeholders.
• Exercises a global mindset and approaches differences with curiosity; experience working and navigating globally preferred.
• Operates with a consultative mindset, conducting diagnostics, developing strategies, and implementing solutions to enhance organizational effectiveness.
• Exhibits data fluency to deliver compelling insights for effective decision-making, partnering with analytics team in the process.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and collaboration skills (including presentation skills) across levels to influence, build enthusiasm and enlist commitment.

SKILLS:

• Talent Needs Analysis and Planning

  • Workforce Planning and Analytics: Training on analyzing headcount needs, forecasting, and skills gap analysis.
  • Strategic Workforce Planning: Courses focusing on aligning talent strategies with organizational goals.

• Talent Partnerships

  • University Relations: Best practices for building and maintaining relationships with academic institutions and industry groups.
  • Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment: Strategies for fostering diverse talent pipelines.

• Program Development and Implementation

  • Instructional Design and Learning Experience Development: For designing technical development programs and engaging training initiatives.
  • Project Management for HR Professionals: Tools and frameworks to implement and manage training and development programs effectively.

• Engagement and Leadership Development

  • Mentorship and Coaching: To understand mentorship dynamics and how to foster meaningful engagement through coaching.
  • Leadership Development Programs: Training on developing leadership qualities in early-career professionals (e.g., reverse mentoring, creating leadership pipelines).

• Metrics and Program Evaluation

  • HR Analytics and Metrics: Training on defining, measuring, and analyzing the effectiveness of talent programs.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Using insights to refine talent development strategies.

• Communication and Collaboration

  • Stakeholder Management: Courses on managing relationships with business and technical leaders, and HR teams.
  • Effective Communication: Techniques for delivering impactful communication across diverse teams.

• Early Career Talent Trends

  • Future of Work Trends: Understanding emerging trends in talent management, skills development, and workplace innovation.
  • Generational Diversity in the Workplace: Training on engaging and managing multigenerational teams effectively.

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.

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