WEKA is architecting a new approach to the enterprise data stack built for the age of reasoning. NeuralMesh by WEKA sets the standard for agentic AI data infrastructure with a cloud and AI-native software solution that can be deployed anywhere. It transforms legacy data silos into data pipelines that dramatically increase GPU utilization and make AI model training and inference, machine learning, and other compute-intensive workloads run faster, work more efficiently, and consume less energy.

WEKA is a pre-IPO, growth-stage company on a hyper-growth trajectory. We’ve raised $375M in capital with dozens of world-class venture capital and strategic investors. We help the world’s largest and most innovative enterprises and research organizations, including 12 of the Fortune 50, achieve discoveries, insights, and business outcomes faster and more sustainably. We’re passionate about solving our customers’ most complex data challenges to accelerate intelligent innovation and business value. If you share our passion, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey.

Requirements 

• 7+ years of combined experience in a product management role managing Systems Software or Hardware Products.
• Ability to write detailed MRD, PRDs and technical use case specifications
• Experience with system bus (PCIe), networking and storage concepts and technologies
• Deep, technical understanding of enterprise storage environments, deployments and use cases
• Thorough understanding CPU and memory subsystem architectures is expected
• Strong business acumen and ability to analyze choices from economic and technical merits
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated critical thinking ability + inquisitiveness and curiosity to challenge the status quo
• Experience and a solid understanding of product life cycles, NPI and operational requirements
• Comfortable to operate under ambiguity and changing priorities driven by business and operational realities
• Operating with owner's and founder's mentality
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent, Master’s Degree a plus

Responsibilities include:

• Define and manage Manageability and Serviceability subsystem roadmap for WEKAPod appliances, powered by Neuralmesh.
• Working with ecosystem partners including and not limited to vendors for various subsystems, e.g. CPU, GPU, Networking, NVMe, OS, Servers
• Work with WEKA engineering and GTM team to drive WEKApod product definition and delivery
• Drive definition and delivery of WEKA certified hardware systems with partners
• Manage roadmap, packaging and pricing for WEKApod and WEKA Qualified Systems portfolio
• Maintain keen insight into competitive landscape and engage with sales and system engineering drive customer opportunities to success

 The WEKA Way:

• We are Accountable: We take full ownership, always–even when things don’t go as planned. We lead with integrity, show up with responsibility & ownership, and hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards.
• We are Brave: We question the status quo, push boundaries, and take smart risks when needed. We welcome challenges and embrace debates as opportunities for growth, turning courage into fuel for innovation.
• We are Collaborative: True collaboration isn’t only about working together. It’s about lifting one another up to succeed collectively. We are team-oriented and communicate with empathy and respect. We challenge each other and conduct positive conflict resolution. We are being transparent about our goals and results. And together, we’re unstoppable.
• We are Customer Centric: Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We actively listen and prioritize the success of our customers, and every decision we make is driven by how we can better serve, support, and empower them to succeed. When our customers win, we win.

USA Residents Only: The Total Compensation hiring wage range for this position which the Company reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position in the specified geographic areas or locations, is $210,000-280,000. Final compensation will be dependent on various factors relevant to the position and candidate such as geographical location, candidate qualifications, certifications, relevant job-related work experience, education, skillset and other relevant business and organizational factors, consistent with applicable law. In addition, the position may include some of the following comprehensive benefits such as Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401(K), Flexible Time off (FTO), sick time, leave of absence as per the FMLA and other relevant leave laws.

Concerned that you don’t meet every qualification above?

Studies have shown that women and people of color may be less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every qualification specified. At WEKA, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this position but are concerned that your past work experience doesn’t match up perfectly with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway – you may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at WEKA.

 WEKA is an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

WEKA is transforming how organizations build, run, and scale AI and accelerated compute workflows with NeuralMesh™, our intelligent, adaptive mesh storage system. Purpose-built for AI, NeuralMesh becomes faster, stronger, and more efficient as workloads scale, maximizing GPU utilization, accelerating time to first token, and lowering the cost of innovation. A growth-stage company, backed by world-class venture capital investors and AI infrastructure leaders, WEKA has earned over 140 patents and is trusted by more than 30% of global Fortune 50 enterprises, as well as leading hyperscalers, AI clouds and agentic AI innovators. We are customer-obsessed and work accountably, boldly, and collaboratively to support their success. If this sounds like the kind of team you're looking for, join us!

About The Role

We are seeking a VP of Accelerated Computing to lead the technical strategy and execution of high-impact technology alliances focused on AI and accelerated infrastructure. This role will own the end-to-end technical vision for “better together” solutions, ensuring deep integration across the AI infrastructure stack and delivering differentiated joint value propositions to enterprise and cloud customers.This is a high-visibility role at the forefront of accelerated computing and AI infrastructure partnerships, offering the opportunity to shape next-generation integrated solutions within one of the industry’s most dynamic ecosystems.

The ideal candidate combines strong architectural depth in AI infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and software) with demonstrated experience managing complex, high-profile alliances—ideally including direct collaboration with NVIDIA. 

Key Responsibilities

Technical Vision & Solution Architecture 

• Define and own the technical vision for end-to-end accelerated computing solutions in collaboration with strategic partners. 
•  Architect integrated “better together” reference designs spanning GPUs, interconnects, storage, networking, and software layers. 
• Drive technical alignment across engineering, product management, field CTOs, and partner solution architects. 
• Ensure joint solutions are performance-optimized, validated, and ready for enterprise-scale deployment.

AI Infrastructure Stack Leadership 

• Provide deep subject-matter expertise across the AI infrastructure stack, including:
• Accelerated compute (GPUs, DPUs, CPU offload architectures) 
• High-performance storage architectures 
• High-speed networking (e.g., RDMA, InfiniBand, Ethernet fabrics) 
• AI/ML frameworks and data pipelines 
• Translate emerging AI workload requirements into joint architectural roadmaps. 
• Guide performance benchmarking, solution validation, and technical field enablement.

Strategic Alliance Management 

• Lead the technical relationship for one or more high-profile partners, serving as executive-level technical counterpart. 
• Develop and execute joint technical roadmaps aligned with corporate strategy.
• Coordinate co-development initiatives, reference architectures, solution briefs, and joint GTM readiness. 
• Represent the company in executive briefings, partner summits, and industry forums.

Go-to-Market & Field Enablement 

• Partner with sales and marketing to articulate differentiated value of integrated solutions
• Support strategic customer engagements requiring architectural leadership.
• Enable field teams with validated designs, performance data, and competitive positioning. 
• Contribute to thought leadership in AI infrastructure and accelerated computing. 

Qualifications 

Required 

• Technical B.S. degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline. 10+ years of experience in AI infrastructure, data center systems, storage, or networking. 
• Demonstrated experience managing high-profile technical alliances with hyperscalers, semiconductor vendors, or infrastructure partners. 
•  Strong architectural understanding of the AI infrastructure stack (compute, storage, networking, software). 
• Proven ability to define and drive cross-company technical roadmaps. 
• Based in Silicon Valley / Bay Area, with ability to work closely with partner ecosystems. 

Leadership Profile 

• Architecturally rigorous and systems-oriented thinker. 
• Executive presence with the ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders. Comfortable operating at the intersection of engineering depth and strategic business impact. 
• High ownership mindset with strong cross-functional collaboration skills. 

Preferred 

• Direct experience collaborating with NVIDIA on joint solutions, integrations, or co-engineering efforts. 
• Deep proficiency in either enterprise storage architectures or high-performance networking technologies. 
• Experience with large-scale AI training and inference environments. 
•  Prior experience in a senior technical leadership role.

How We Work: The WEKA Way

• We are Accountable: We take full ownership, always–even when things don’t go as planned. We lead with integrity, show up with responsibility & ownership, and hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards.
• We are Brave: We question the status quo, push boundaries, and take smart risks when needed. We welcome challenges and embrace debates as opportunities for growth, turning courage into fuel for innovation. 
• We are Collaborative: True collaboration isn’t only about working together. It’s about lifting one another up to succeed collectively. We are team-oriented and we communicate with empathy and respect. We challenge each other and conduct positive conflict resolution. We are being transparent about our goals and the results we achieve. Together, we’re unstoppable. 
• We are Customer Centric: Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We actively listen and prioritize the success of our customers, and every decision we make is driven by how we can better serve, support, and empower them to succeed. When our customers win, we win.
  
  

USA Residents Only: The OTE range for this position which the Company reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position in the specified geographic areas or locations, is $270,000-325,000. Final compensation will be dependent on various factors relevant to the position and candidate such as geographical location, candidate qualifications, certifications, relevant job-related work experience, education, skillset and other relevant business and organizational factors, consistent with applicable law. In addition, the position may include some of the following comprehensive benefits such Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401(K), Flexible Time off (FTO), sick time, leave of absence as per the FMLA and other relevant leave laws.

Concerned you don’t meet every qualification? Don’t let it stop you from applying!
Studies have shown that traditionally underrepresented groups may be less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every qualification specified. WEKA is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this position but are concerned your past work experience doesn’t match up perfectly with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway – you may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at WEKA.

WEKA is an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

WEKA is architecting a new approach to the enterprise data stack built for the age of reasoning. NeuralMesh by WEKA sets the standard for agentic AI data infrastructure with a cloud and AI-native software solution that can be deployed anywhere. It transforms legacy data silos into data pipelines that dramatically increase GPU utilization and make AI model training and inference, machine learning, and other compute-intensive workloads run faster, work more efficiently, and consume less energy.

WEKA is a pre-IPO, growth-stage company on a hyper-growth trajectory. We’ve raised $375M in capital with dozens of world-class venture capital and strategic investors. We help the world’s largest and most innovative enterprises and research organizations, including 12 of the Fortune 50, achieve discoveries, insights, and business outcomes faster and more sustainably. We’re passionate about solving our customers’ most complex data challenges to accelerate intelligent innovation and business value. If you share our passion, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey.

What’s Cool About This Job

At WEKA, we have high performance down cold. This role is ultra focused on delighting customers with our expanding capabilities. Join our cutting-edge team leading Product Management. Become an expert in a filesystem so advanced, it might as well be alien technology. As a technologist, you will translate its capabilities to value; not just for customers, but propagating must-not-miss value to every Wekkie across areas of performance, resiliency, and flexibility. In this role, you'll be at the forefront of WEKA, contributing to the success of customers who are pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI and HPC. As a key player in our dynamic company, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of the product and make a significant impact in the world of computing.

Bring Your Expertise – and Your Passion

You are only a generalist in the sense that you’re an expert in everything you touch. While your main focus is filesystems, we expect your domain knowledge to span compute, networking, and storage. You understand operating system internals and the challenges of building distributed systems. You are a professional know-it-all, and that’s a good thing. Important factors leading to your success include:

Expertise: You are a seasoned PM that understands customer needs and can have a meaningful and actionable conversation with customers, partners and engineering. If you have been a customer yourself at one point, that’s great! You may not have direct product management experience within the software industry, but you have a track record in these domains as a solution architect, as an engineer, or similar experience. You have a demonstrable and deep understanding of network-based filesystems. You are familiar with the intricacies of high-performance distributed workloads run by customers across a variety of industry verticals and have data points to substantiate why your solutions have been forward-thinking.

Leadership Skills: Strong leadership skills with a history of successfully leading cross-functional teams. Product Managers are expected to inspire and motivate team members to achieve ambitious goals while maintaining a collaborative and positive working environment. You understand how to influence without authority, and your recall of meaningful details supports verbal and written agility.

Strategic Vision: You are a strategic thinker who can develop and execute product strategies that align with market trends and customer needs, as well as think critically about existing strategies. You have a proven ability to translate strategic goals into actionable plans and deliver results.

Communication Skills: You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. You are comfortable presenting product strategies and roadmaps to internal teams and external customers.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead filesystem product strategy, and have a significant contribution to the overall product strategy, aligned with company goals and market demands
• Create and maintain a detailed case for enhancements, ensuring that it reflects the evolving needs of our customers and the ever-changing technology landscape
• Work closely with Engineering, Sales, and Customer Success teams to ensure the seamless integration of features and enhancements.
• Support customer-facing teams across geographies and business units with expert knowledge of the product and our plans for it
• Stay on top of relevant industry trends, standards, and emerging technologies, and assimilate the value into the team collective
• Foster a collaborative and innovative environment, encouraging open communication and effective teamwork across different departments.

Desired Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in product management, with a focus on storage products serving File protocols. You may not have all of those 10 years in direct product management experience, but you have a track record in these domains as a solution architect, as an engineer, or similar experience.
• Experience with the different personas in the Enterprise IT world 
• Familiarity with File workloads in HPC, AI/ML or similar
• Track record of releasing enterprise grade features and products 
• Deep knowledge of operating systems
• Familiarity with the NVIDIA stack - advantage

The WEKA Way:

• We are Accountable: We take full ownership, always–even when things don’t go as planned. We lead with integrity, show up with responsibility & ownership, and hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards.
• We are Brave: We question the status quo, push boundaries, and take smart risks when needed. We welcome challenges and embrace debates as opportunities for growth, turning courage into fuel for innovation.
• We are Collaborative: True collaboration isn’t only about working together. It’s about lifting one another up to succeed collectively. We are team-oriented and communicate with empathy and respect. We challenge each other and conduct positive conflict resolution. We are being transparent about our goals and results. And together, we’re unstoppable.
• We are Customer Centric: Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We actively listen and prioritize the success of our customers, and every decision we make is driven by how we can better serve, support, and empower them to succeed. When our customers win, we win.

Concerned that you don’t meet every qualification above?

Studies have shown that women and people of color may be less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every qualification specified. At WEKA, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this position but are concerned that your past work experience doesn’t match up perfectly with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway – you may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at WEKA.

 WEKA is an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

About WEKA

WEKA is redefining the enterprise data stack for the age of AI. Our platform enables the world’s most advanced organizations to run high-performance workloads - from large-scale model training to real-time inference - faster and more efficiently.

WEKA is a pre-IPO, growth-stage company on a hyper-growth trajectory. We’ve raised $375M in capital with dozens of world-class venture capital and strategic investors. We help the world’s largest and most innovative enterprises and research organizations, including 12 of the Fortune 50, achieve discoveries, insights, and business outcomes faster and more sustainably. We’re passionate about solving our customers’ most complex data challenges to accelerate intelligent innovation and business value. If you share our passion, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey.

The Role

This is a rare opportunity to:

• Have a direct impact on AI performance and GPU efficiency at scale
• Combine deep technical thinking with product ownership
• Own product decisions that influence real-world system behavior

As a Product Manager at WEKA, you will define how next-generation AI workloads interact with high-performance storage and networking systems.

This is a deep-tech product role at the core of our platform, where your decisions directly impact performance, scalability, and efficiency across large-scale AI environments.

You’ll operate at the intersection of product, distributed systems, and hardware-aware infrastructure - shaping how modern data platforms are built and optimized.

What You'll Do

• Define and execute product strategy for WEKA’s platform and infrastructure layer
• Own the product roadmap - balancing innovation, performance, and customer needs
• Work closely with engineering to design and deliver high-performance capabilities
• Translate complex technical challenges into clear product decisions and priorities
• Partner with customers and internal teams to understand real-world use cases and constraints
• Stay ahead of trends in storage, networking, and distributed systems
• Collaborate with top engineers, architects, and customers solving cutting-edge challenges

What You Bring

You’re a product thinker with a strong technical foundation, who enjoys going deep into complex systems.

You might come from one (or more) of these backgrounds:

• Product Manager in infrastructure / platform / deep-tech domains
• Software Engineer or Architect who transitioned into product
• Sales Engineer highly experienced with storage, networking, or distributed systems

Your Experience Includes

• Experience in one or more of the following:
• Storage systems (e.g., NVMe, SSDs, RAID)
• Networking / high-performance protocols (e.g., RDMA, DPDK)
• Distributed systems / infrastructure platforms
• Ability to work closely with engineering on complex technical challenges
• Strong communication skills - able to bridge technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Experience driving product decisions in fast-paced environments

Nice to Have 

• Familiarity with technologies like RDMA (InfiniBand, RoCE), GPUDirect Storage, or kernel-bypass networking
• Understanding of performance optimization (latency, throughput, IOPS)
• Experience with large-scale data or AI infrastructure

WEKA is transforming how organizations build, run, and scale AI and accelerated compute workflows with NeuralMesh™, our intelligent, adaptive mesh storage system. Purpose-built for AI, NeuralMesh becomes faster, stronger, and more efficient as workloads scale, maximizing GPU utilization, accelerating time to first token, and lowering the cost of innovation. A growth-stage company, backed by world-class venture capital investors and AI infrastructure leaders, WEKA has earned over 140 patents and is trusted by more than 30% of global Fortune 50 enterprises, as well as leading hyperscalers, AI clouds and agentic AI innovators. We are customer-obsessed and work accountably, boldly, and collaboratively to support their success. If this sounds like the kind of team you're looking for, join us!

About The Role

We are seeking a Sr. Director of Accelerated Computing to lead the technical strategy and execution of high-impact technology alliances focused on AI and accelerated infrastructure. This role will own the end-to-end technical vision for “better together” solutions, ensuring deep integration across the AI infrastructure stack and delivering differentiated joint value propositions to enterprise and cloud customers.This is a high-visibility role at the forefront of accelerated computing and AI infrastructure partnerships, offering the opportunity to shape next-generation integrated solutions within one of the industry’s most dynamic ecosystems.

The ideal candidate combines strong architectural depth in AI infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and software) with demonstrated experience managing complex, high-profile alliances—ideally including direct collaboration with NVIDIA. 

Key Responsibilities 

Technical Vision & Solution Architecture 

• Define and own the technical vision for end-to-end accelerated computing solutions in collaboration with strategic partners. 
•  Architect integrated “better together” reference designs spanning GPUs, interconnects, storage, networking, and software layers. 
• Drive technical alignment across engineering, product management, field CTOs, and partner solution architects. 
• Ensure joint solutions are performance-optimized, validated, and ready for enterprise-scale deployment. 

AI Infrastructure Stack Leadership 

• Provide deep subject-matter expertise across the AI infrastructure stack, including:
  • Accelerated compute (GPUs, DPUs, CPU offload architectures) 
  • High-performance storage architectures 
  • High-speed networking (e.g., RDMA, InfiniBand, Ethernet fabrics) 
  • AI/ML frameworks and data pipelines 
• Translate emerging AI workload requirements into joint architectural roadmaps. 
• Guide performance benchmarking, solution validation, and technical field enablement.

Strategic Alliance Management 

• Lead the technical relationship for one or more high-profile partners, serving as executive-level technical counterpart. 
• Develop and execute joint technical roadmaps aligned with corporate strategy.
• Coordinate co-development initiatives, reference architectures, solution briefs, and joint GTM readiness. 
• Represent the company in executive briefings, partner summits, and industry forums.

Go-to-Market & Field Enablement 

• Partner with sales and marketing to articulate differentiated value of integrated solutions
• Support strategic customer engagements requiring architectural leadership.
• Enable field teams with validated designs, performance data, and competitive positioning. 
• Contribute to thought leadership in AI infrastructure and accelerated computing. 

Qualifications 

Required 

• Technical B.S. degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline. 10+ years of experience in AI infrastructure, data center systems, storage, or networking. 
• Demonstrated experience managing high-profile technical alliances with hyperscalers, semiconductor vendors, or infrastructure partners. 
•  Strong architectural understanding of the AI infrastructure stack (compute, storage, networking, software). 
• Proven ability to define and drive cross-company technical roadmaps. 
• Based in Silicon Valley / Bay Area, with ability to work closely with partner ecosystems. 

Leadership Profile 

• Architecturally rigorous and systems-oriented thinker. 
• Executive presence with the ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders. Comfortable operating at the intersection of engineering depth and strategic business impact. 
• High ownership mindset with strong cross-functional collaboration skills. 

Preferred 

• Direct experience collaborating with NVIDIA on joint solutions, integrations, or co-engineering efforts. 
• Deep proficiency in either enterprise storage architectures or high-performance networking technologies. 
• Experience with large-scale AI training and inference environments. 
•  Prior experience in a senior technical leadership role.

How We Work: The WEKA Way

• We are Accountable: We take full ownership, always–even when things don’t go as planned. We lead with integrity, show up with responsibility & ownership, and hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards.
• We are Brave: We question the status quo, push boundaries, and take smart risks when needed. We welcome challenges and embrace debates as opportunities for growth, turning courage into fuel for innovation. 
• We are Collaborative: True collaboration isn’t only about working together. It’s about lifting one another up to succeed collectively. We are team-oriented and we communicate with empathy and respect. We challenge each other and conduct positive conflict resolution. We are being transparent about our goals and the results we achieve. Together, we’re unstoppable. 
• We are Customer Centric: Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We actively listen and prioritize the success of our customers, and every decision we make is driven by how we can better serve, support, and empower them to succeed. When our customers win, we win.
  
  

USA Residents Only: The OTE range for this position which the Company reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position in the specified geographic areas or locations, is $270,000-325,000. Final compensation will be dependent on various factors relevant to the position and candidate such as geographical location, candidate qualifications, certifications, relevant job-related work experience, education, skillset and other relevant business and organizational factors, consistent with applicable law. In addition, the position may include some of the following comprehensive benefits such Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401(K), Flexible Time off (FTO), sick time, leave of absence as per the FMLA and other relevant leave laws.

Concerned you don’t meet every qualification? Don’t let it stop you from applying!
Studies have shown that traditionally underrepresented groups may be less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every qualification specified. WEKA is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this position but are concerned your past work experience doesn’t match up perfectly with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway – you may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at WEKA.

WEKA is an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.