Director & Senior Legal Counsel

About the role

WD is seeking an experienced and commercially astute Director & Senior Legal Counsel to join its Global Commercial Legal team. In this high-impact role, you will serve as a trusted legal partner to WD's 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.

Responsibilities

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

Requirements

• 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.
• 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.
• Working knowledge of U.S. consumer protection, competition, and intellectual property laws.
• Professional fluency in English, both written and verbal.

Preferred Qualifications

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

Skills

• 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 WD's 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 WD's Legal Team

WD's Legal department operates as a strategic business partner across a global, fast-moving technology company. Our commercial legal team supports one of the world's 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.

Pay

The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. The salary range may be modified in the future and 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. 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.

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. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to WD's Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.

Benefits

• Paid vacation time and paid sick leave.
• Medical, dental, and 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 benefits.
• Applause Program.
• Employee stock purchase plan.
• WD Savings 401(k) Plan.