Senior Manager, IT Communications & AI Evangelist

General Information

Job Name

Senior Manager, IT Communications & AI Evangelist

Country/Region

United States of America

State

California

City

Milpitas

Work Location

Milpitas Office

Work Mode

Employees work on-site

Salary Range

$142,000 - $241,400

Exemption Status

Exempt

Business Function

Communications

Employment Type

Full-time

Sandisk understands how people and businesses consume data and we relentlessly innovate to deliver solutions that enable today’s needs and tomorrow’s next big ideas. With a rich history of groundbreaking innovations in Flash and advanced memory technologies, our solutions have become the beating heart of the digital world we’re living in and that we have the power to shape.

Sandisk meets people and businesses at the intersection of their aspirations and the moment, enabling them to keep moving and pushing possibility forward. We do this through the balance of our powerhouse manufacturing capabilities and our industry-leading portfolio of products that are recognized globally for innovation, performance and quality.

Sandisk has two facilities recognized by the World Economic Forum as part of the Global Lighthouse Network for advanced 4IR innovations. These facilities were also recognized as Sustainability Lighthouses for breakthroughs in efficient operations. With our global reach, we ensure the global supply chain has access to the Flash memory it needs to keep our world moving forward.

Description

Sandisk is investing to become an AI-enabled enterprise. The technology is arriving faster than the organization is absorbing it, and the gap between what IT ships and what the business actually adopts is now the binding constraint on return from that investment. This role exists to close that gap.The Senior Manager, IT Communications & AI Evangelist owns enterprise awareness, adoption, and engagement for AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. The role leads communications strategy, runs the AI and Cyber Councils, produces IT town halls and executive forums, and drives the change management that turns platform availability into measured behavior change. Success is judged on adoption and sentiment movement, not on volume of communications produced.This is not a traditional communications role. It blends four disciplines: IT communications leadership, AI adoption ownership, change management practice, and executive engagement. The person in this seat is a technology translator who can connect CIO vision to business outcomes, and is equally credible presenting to an executive staff meeting and recording a one minute product explainer.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. AI Amplification and Evangelism

• Serve as the lead AI evangelist for the IT organization, building the narrative for AI platforms, capabilities, and use cases across systems, applications, and cybersecurity.

• Develop creative strategies that generate buzz and amplify AI momentum enterprise-wide, moving the organization from awareness to active daily use.

• Produce short-form content that people actually consume: one minute podcasts, product videos on AI capabilities in the works, and customer interviews on realized impact.

• Plan, design, and launch targeted, persona-based adoption campaigns differentiated by function, seniority, and technical fluency, extending the same approach to security training.

• Build a network of AI champions and ambassadors in the business, and convert their success stories into reusable proof points. 2. Council and Community Leadership

• Establish and run the enterprise AI Council to communicate AI platform and use-case changes across the enterprise, and to surface business demand back into the IT roadmap.

• Facilitate cross-functional participation across IT, Finance, HR, Operations, Engineering, and Sales, with active executive sponsorship at each session.

• Run the monthly Cyber Council, championing an AI and Security mindset across the organization and reinforcing responsible AI and security governance principles.

• Design and implement a measurement framework for employee pulse on the AI adoption curve, reporting movement rather than activity.

• Grow a self-sustaining practitioner community so adoption continues without central push. 3. Change Leadership

• Act as the change agent for enterprise technology initiatives: keeping the business informed on IT changes and feeding business needs back to IT.

• Organize town halls, LIVE meetings, and seminars featuring IT leaders on upcoming innovations, and design them as engagement events rather than broadcast slots.

• Build stakeholder engagement, communication, and adoption plans for major transformations, including change impact assessments and organizational readiness measures.

• Partner with HR, Learning, and business teams to align training, enablement, and incentives with the behaviors each program requires.

• Anticipate and address resistance directly, treating adoption friction as a signal to be fixed rather than a message to be repeated. 4. Communications and Channels

• Partner with Operations Communications teams to distribute across every available channel, including intranet, email, Teams, digital signage, and live events.

• Ensure consistent, timely messaging across AI, cybersecurity, applications, and enterprise systems, so the business receives one coherent IT voice.

• Develop executive communications: keynote messaging, leadership presentations, newsletters, blogs, and video.

• Maintain the editorial calendar and message architecture for the IT organization, sequencing announcements to avoid change fatigue. 5. Metrics and Governance

• Define and own adoption and engagement KPIs for AI, security culture, and IT change programs.

• Track platform usage depth, campaign effectiveness, training completion and efficacy, sentiment, and change readiness.

• Produce executive dashboards for the CIO and IT Leadership Team, and use the data to reallocate effort toward what is working.

REQUIRED

QUALIFICATIONS

• Education - Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marketing, Business, Information Technology, Organizational Change, or a related field.

• Experience - 10+ years in corporate or IT communications, change management, digital transformation, or technology program leadership, including 3+ years leading enterprise-wide programs in a global organization.

• Executive communication - Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver executive-level messaging, and to write and present for a C-suite audience with minimal direction.

• Storytelling - Proven track record translating complex technical subject matter into clear, compelling narratives for non-technical audiences.

• Adoption outcomes - Evidence of driving measurable organizational adoption and behavior change, not only message delivery. Candidates should be able to cite the metrics they moved.

• Stakeholder management - Experience managing senior stakeholders across multiple functions and influencing without formal authority.

• Content production - Hands-on capability across written, video, and audio formats, including comfort on camera and on microphone.

• Measurement. Working fluency in communications and adoption analytics, and the discipline to report outcomes honestly when a campaign underperforms.

PREFERRED

QUALIFICATIONS

• AI and GenAI programs - Direct experience launching or scaling enterprise AI, GenAI, or Copilot adoption programs, including familiarity with responsible AI and governance concepts.

• Cybersecurity awareness - Experience running security awareness, phishing simulation, or security culture programs in partnership with an Information Security organization.

• Certifications - Prosci or CCMP change management certification; PMP; recognized AI or GenAI credential.

• Executive support - Prior experience supporting a CIO, CTO, CDO, or CISO organization as a communications or chief-of-staff partner.

• Industry context - Background in semiconductor, hardware, high-tech manufacturing, or another engineering-led enterprise where the internal audience is technically sophisticated and skeptical of hype.

• Community building - Track record establishing councils, guilds, ambassador networks, or internal communities that outlived their launch campaign.

• Production skill - Practical ability with video editing, podcast production, or design tooling sufficient to produce quality content without full agency support.

• Global reach - Experience communicating across US, India, Malaysia, and other Asia-Pacific sites, including adapting messaging for distributed manufacturing and engineering populations.

• Advanced degree - MBA or master's degree in Communications, Organizational Development, or a related discipline.

Compensation & Benefits

• 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.

• You will be eligible to participate in Sandisk's Short-Term Incentive (STI) Plan, 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 Sandisk'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 Sandisk's 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.

Additional Information

Sandisk is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate 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 Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088\_EEOC\_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf) poster.

Sandisk 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.

Sandisk 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 [email protected] 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.