William D. Watkins is the independent Chair of the Flex Board of Directors and chairs its Nominating, Governance and Public Responsibility Committee. He served as Chief Executive Officer (2013 to 2016) and Chairman of the Board (2015 to 2016) of Imergy Power Systems, Inc., an innovator in cost-effective energy storage solutions.
He earlier served as Chairman of the Board (February 2013 to December 2013) and Chief Executive Officer (2010 to February 2013) of Bridgelux, Inc., a leading light emitting diode (LED) developer. Before that he was Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technology (2004 to 2009) and President and Chief Operating Officer (2000 to 2004), responsible for Seagate's hard disc drive operations including recording heads, media and other components and related R&D, after holding various other positions with Seagate from 1996 to 2000.
He currently serves on the board of Nextracker Inc., and previously served on the boards of Avaya Holdings Corp. and Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.