Hansen, who has a degree in sports science and is currently completing a masters in strength and conditioning, joined the Bulldogs as a development coach late last year.
"My role is mainly about working with the one- to three-year players, and fast-tracking their skill development," Hansen told AFL.com.au.
"And with the demands of the AFL environment, I'm working a lot on the off-field stuff, too.
"So we're trying to put mature heads on young bodies and get them up speed as quickly as possible, so we can get them playing good AFL football as soon as we can."
Hansen has already noticed some similarities between the Dogs' young list and the crop of talented players that he came through the ranks with at the Eagles.
"It's probably the start of a new era for the Bulldogs, like it was for West Coast when I arrived there," the 29-year-old, who was a member of the Eagles' 2006 premiership team, said.
"We had two really early picks – Chris Judd and Ashley Sampi – and the Dogs have had that this year with Jake Stringer and Jackson Macrae.
"We also had a new coach at the Eagles – it was John Worsfold's first year in charge when I started there.
"The Eagles also brought back other legend of the club along with 'Woosha'.
"We had Peter Sumich and Rob Wiley around the place, whereas the Dogs have got Rohan Smith and Brad Johnson back in the fold.
"So the similarities are really strong there. I think there's a really strong link between Brendan McCartney's philosophy of coaching and how he wants to build a club and the way that John Worsfold went about it at West Coast.
"Hopefully, the environment at the Bulldogs will lead to a similar amount of success.
"That's really in the hands of the players. We can only give them so much; they've got to take hold of the program and buy into it, which I think they're going to do.
"The opportunity they've got ahead of them, as I see it, is a really great one."
Hansen grew up in Melbourne, so he was keen to return to Victoria after a decade in Western Australia.
"Mum and Dad and my family are here, so to be around them on a regular basis is really exciting," he said.
"And in a professional sense, after spending 10 years at West Coast, I wanted to put myself in a different environment, around different people, and learn.
"That's what the Bulldogs offered to me, which I was really excited about.
"I'm really enjoying being at a Melbourne-based club."
Adam McNicol covers Western Bulldogs news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol
