Associate, Corporate Development Analyst

145,800.00-194,400.00 Business Function: Corporate Development Work Location: San Jose Great Oaks Headquarters--LOC_WDT_USCA23 Company Description Overview Western Digital is entering a new chapter. Following our spin-off of SanDisk, we are stepping into our future as an independent deep-tech company, one built on decades of engineering breakthroughs and pointed squarely at the biggest technological frontiers of our time. We are a company of physicists, materials scientists, AI researchers, and engineers. We work at the frontier of magnetics, photonics, nanofabrication, and machine learning - disciplines most people never encounter, solving problems most people don't know exist. Our teams hold one of the largest intellectual property banks in Silicon Valley, and our labs are staffed with hundreds of PhDs who've spent their careers pushing what's physically possible. Most folks know us as a data storage company, powering data centers, hyperscale clouds, and AI systems that define the modern economy. HDD is the backbone of the AI economy and the most scalable, cost-efficient way to store the world's data - and we're building its future. But it's only part of the story. In the past, our technology has helped put a man on the moon and captured the first-ever picture of a black hole. The next generation of what we are building will shape robotics, quantum computing, space systems, personalized medicine, autonomous vehicles, and more. We are entering the most ambitious phase of our company's history. As AI reshapes every industry and every workload, the world needs more data infrastructure, better materials science, and deeper engineering talent than ever before. That's what we do. That's what we've always done. And we're just getting started. Western Digital's Strategy & Corporate Development team is the connective tissue bridging Western Digital's technology to the markets it will serve. We turn deep-tech capability into commercial impact, strengthening our position in the core HDD business, setting the company's long-term strategy, and executing the partnerships, investments, and acquisitions that shape what we build next. If you want to work on problems that matter at the intersection of deep technology, business strategy, and real-world impact, we would love to talk. Join us. Let's build what comes next.

Key Responsibilities Financial Modeling & Deal Economics Lead financial modeling and deal economics independently including DCF/valuation, trading and transaction comps, accretion/dilution, synergy analysis, and deal structuring. Build and defend sophisticated financial models from scratch, including stress-testing assumptions under executive scrutiny. Develop unit economics, return analyses, and value-creation frameworks for M&A and venture opportunities; support investment thesis development with rigorous quantitative underpinning. Target Landscape & Pipeline Management Map and maintain target landscape: research acquisition candidates, track competitor M&A activity, and maintain the deal pipeline and CRM. Conduct primary and secondary research to identify and prioritize acquisition, JV, and investment targets; support pipeline reviews and portfolio prioritization discussions with Corporate Development leadership. Deal Materials & Executive Communication Produce executive-ready investment memos, deal summaries, and Board materials. Translate complex financial and strategic analysis into clear, compelling narratives for senior leadership. WD Capital & Venture Support Support WD Capital: conduct company and technology diligence on startup investment opportunities and develop investment thesis independently for venture opportunities in storage, data infrastructure, and AI adjacencies. Build relationships with VCs, accelerators, and startup