Joseph Fernandez is the Senior Director, (Chief of Staff, Sustainability, Strategy at Sandisk. He leads the Backend Operations Chief of Staff Office and Sustainable Operations, focusing on sustainability, strategy, people transformation, and communications. His role is key in aligning departmental goals with broader organizational strategies, advancing sustainable practices, and strengthening operations. He also supports executive agenda management and the execution of strategic business priorities.

With over 25 years of experience in manufacturing, he has held roles in Quality Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Process Engineering, Plant Management, Operational Excellence, Strategy, and Sustainability. He played a key role in leading Sandisk Storage Malaysia to be recognized as the first Advanced 4IR Lighthouse in Malaysia and the first Sustainability Lighthouse in Asia by the World Economic Forum.

Prior to joining Sandisk, he was with Honeywell UOP’s oil and gas business unit, where he served as site leader for the start-up of a greenfield plant in Penang, Malaysia. He led technology transfer from the US and successfully scaled up operations to serve both onshore and offshore customers.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from Nottingham Trent University (UK) and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt by ASQ USA and Green House Gas (GHG) Practitioner by BSI.