Vice President - Enterprise Architecture & Engineering

Vice President - Enterprise Architecture & Engineering

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 thatour 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 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.

Job Description

The Vice President - Enterprise Architecture & Engineering will serve as the strategic technology leader responsible for shaping and governing the company's end-to-end architecture vision. This executive will ensure that the enterprise technology ecosystemspanning data, applications, AI, and infrastructureremains scalable, secure, and aligned with business goals.

Partnering closely with the CIO and senior leadership, the VP will drive architectural innovation, champion AI-enabled capabilities, and build a high-performing architecture function that accelerates digital transformation and operational excellence. The role serves as a market-leading trend scout, continuously scanning emerging technologies and translating those insights into actionable strategies that ensure WDC remains modern, competitive, and future-ready.

Key Responsibilities :

• Strategic Technology Leadership
• Define and own the enterprise technology roadmap that aligns AI-driven innovation with business goals.
• Partner with the CIO to balance immediate delivery needs against long-term architectural evolution.
• Translate emerging technologies into actionable, value-driven initiatives.
• Architectural Oversight
• Lead the Enterprise Architecture organization, ensuring architectural coherence across Data Platforms, Assurance, Supply Chain, MES, and other core domains.
• Establish standards, reference architectures, and governance frameworks to ensure scalability, security, and regulatory compliance.
• Oversee architecture review boards and ensure consistent application of enterprise design principles.
• Agentic AI Program
• Champion the design, development, and rollout of Agentic AI solutions that automate decision-making and enhance customer value.
• Define success metrics, model governance, and ethical AI principles to guide deployment.
• Collaborate with Data Science and Engineering to operationalize AI in core business processes.
• Team Building & Management
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing architecture teamincluding enterprise architects, senior engineers, and AI specialists.
• Foster a culture of technical rigor, innovation, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Establish professional development programs to strengthen architectural expertise across the enterprise.
• Executive Partnership
• Serve as the primary technical advisor to the CIO and a trusted voice to executive leadership.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear business narratives for senior leadership, the board, and external partners.
• Influence enterprise priorities through data-driven insights and architectural foresight.
• Stakeholder Alignment
• Partner with product, engineering, operations, and business unit leaders to ensure architecture decisions enable rapid delivery while maintaining reliability and security.
• Conduct architecture and risk assessments to proactively manage technology debt and compliance posture.
• Innovation & Thought Leadership
• Keep the organization at the forefront of emerging technologies including cloud-native computing, AI / ML, microservices, and edge computing.
• Represent the company at industry events, conferences, and internal technology forums.
• Lead strategic technology evaluations and proof-of-concepts for next-generation solutions.
• Operational Excellence
• Oversee technology budgeting, vendor evaluation, and capacity planning in partnership with the CIO.
• Ensure adherence to global security, privacy, and regulatory requirements across all enterprise platforms.
• Drive continuous improvement in architecture governance and technology lifecycle management.

Qualifications

Experience

Technical Expertise

Leadership & Communication

Education :

Bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field required; Master's degree preferred.

Preferred :

Experience in regulated or mission-critical industries (e.g., manufacturing, aerospace, fintech).

Certifications : TOGAF, AWS / Azure Solutions Architect, or equivalent. Recognized contributions to the field through publications, patents, or speaking engagements on AI, architecture, or large-scale systems.