Public Relations Manager

Job description

In this Individual Contributor role, you will serve as the connective tissue across WD's PR and Analyst Relations team —you will surface the right stories at the right moment, ensuring programs move forward with clarity and momentum. You will also own the team’s communications calendar and be the person who keeps priorities coordinated across the organization, translating that visibility into proactive communications thinking that keeps pace with a fast-moving business. That strategic vantage point also positions you to play a central role in day-to-day media relations across North America. This means proactively developing and pitching stories, responding to media inquiries with speed and precision, and building genuine, lasting relationships with the journalists and outlets that matter most to our business. The ideal candidate is a skilled storyteller who understands the B2B and enterprise technology media landscape — someone who can take WD's business and technology priorities and shape them into compelling narratives, sharp press materials, and story angles that earn high-impact coverage and build lasting brand presence. You will also play an important supporting role in keeping the program's operational foundation running smoothly. This includes contributing to budget tracking and vendor management, helping ensure spend stays aligned with priorities and nothing falls through the cracks. Day to day, you will also monitor the news cycle — tracking coverage of WD, our competitors, and the broader storage and data infrastructure landscape — and flagging developments that warrant a response, an opportunity, or a shift in strategy. This role is based at either our San Jose or Irvine offices. Responsibilities Help manage day-to-day media relations in North America, including proactive pitching, reactive inquiries, and ongoing journalist relationship development Develop compelling story angles, pitches, press releases, and Q&As that translate WD's business and technology priorities into media coverage that drives impact Work with agency partners and subject matter experts to develop narratives and communications plans and assets that boost engagement with target audiences Track and report on program status, milestones, and communications activity across the PR and Analyst Relations team on a regular cadence Support C-suite visibility program including speaking submissions, awards, contributed content, and media briefings Help build and execute creative campaigns for momentum media activity outside the main news cycle Track, measure, and report on coverage and program performance; translate data into actionable insights and recommendations Maintain communications calendar that maps upcoming campaigns, product launches, events, and announcements to identify alignment and storytelling opportunities Proactively identify gaps, conflicts, and white space in the communications schedule; surface opportunities and risks to stakeholders early Partner with content, social, and digital teams to ensure PR narratives are amplified across owned and paid channels for consistency and reach 5–8+ years of communications experience (including project management experience) within a global tech company or agency A strong background of B2B / enterprise technology experience; knowledge of data storage, cloud infrastructure, or AI landscape is a plus Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs with multiple concurrent workstreams and deadlines Experience creating and managing multi-channel communications campaigns across earned, owned, and paid channels Proven media relations skills; established network of technology and business journalists and editors in North America is a plus Metrics-based approach with experience using tools such as Meltwater to measure and report on PR performance Experience managing external PR agencies and holding partners accountable to agreed KPIs Ability to interface with stakeholders at all levels, across departments and geographies, and act as a strategic advisor to the comms leadership team Exceptional communications, writing, and presentation skills Outstanding judgement and creative problem-solving skills Curious, flexible and the ability to think creatively Effective team player, while also being able to work independently Enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, self-motivated, and can thrive under pressure Someone who has a sense of humor Experience at a leading brand a plus Bachelor's degree in communications, or a related field; advanced degree a plus 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 person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s 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 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. Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 12.1.2026 (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. #LI-AS1 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. 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 . WD is building the infrastructure behind the AI-driven data economy. As AI scales, so does data. Every interaction, every model, every system generates data that must be stored, managed, and made accessible over time. That’s where we come in. We combine deep engineering expertise with global-scale manufacturing to deliver the storage systems that make AI possible, powering hyperscale data centers, cloud platforms, and enterprise infrastructure worldwide. This isn’t theoretical work. It’s real systems, at real scale, people solving some of the hardest challenges in technology today. We’re looking for people who want to build, solve, and operate at that level. Join us and let’s shape the future of data.