Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally.
The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.
Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:
1. Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
2. Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally.
3. Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.
Business Operations
The Business Operations team helps guide and articulate technology strategy and research, and is responsible for driving the day-to-day operation of the Product & Technology organization, including: project and portfolio management and tracking; organization-level capital, space, and resource management and allocation; process management; technical incident management; and our administrative and workplace experience support team.
Job Summary:
As part of the Business Operations organization, the Lead Program Manager is responsible for leading complex cross-functional initiatives that align with strategic business and technology goals. This role will support scalable, coordinated, and insight-driven planning across the technology organization by optimizing the systems, data, and processes that power workforce, tooling, and execution planning. The ideal candidate brings a strong mix of technical insight, leadership acumen, and program execution skills to drive efficiency, communication, and impact across the organization.
Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:
Operations & Execution
- Act as a leader within Technology Planning Operations (TPO), coordinating and optimizing operational processes.
- Document and communicate systems architecture and workflows across domains.
- Implement and monitor improvements to systems, tooling, and operational planning frameworks.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with leaders across Product, Engineering, Finance, HR and Operations to align execution with strategic goals.
- Coordinate with external vendors and stakeholders to integrate and support technology planning systems.
Communication & Influence
- Communicate complex insights clearly to technical and executive audiences.
- Negotiate solutions among stakeholders with competing priorities and drive alignment at all levels.
Process Improvement & Innovation
- Drive process improvement and automation initiatives to enhance operational efficiency.
- Apply critical thinking and innovation to identify bottlenecks and streamline business operations.
Data Governance & Strategic Reporting
- Ensure accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data across reporting systems, working with cross-functional teams to uphold governance and standards.
- Collaborate on the development of dashboards and analytics, providing data-driven insights to leadership.
- Support long-term operational planning through strategic reporting enhancements.
Required Education and Experience/Skills/Training:
Minimum Qualifications:
- Established in Program or Product Management with 7+ years of experience
- Proven track record with Agile project management in a hands-on role as a Program Manager, Project Manager, or Scrum Master teams
- Experience collaborating with product, design and other stakeholders to understand requirements, prioritize initiatives, and engage with engineering teams to drive projects forward
- Ability to identify, analyze, prioritize, mitigate, and communicate risks to internal and external partners
- Proactive approach, able to initiate conversations and guide other program leads in process development, consistently evaluating and improving processes at every iteration
- Developed essential soft skills, including meeting leadership, communication, teamwork, collaboration, flexibility, problem-solving, critical thinking, and conflict resolution
- BA/BS or equivalent experience required
Preferred Qualifications:
- PMP Certification or similar preferred
- Expertise in delivery management tools (Jira, Confluence, Airtable, etc.)
- Experience with headcount and/or resource management
- Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills with the ability to influence and persuade senior leadership and stakeholders.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data and provide actionable insights and recommendations.
- Ability to leverage AI for automating tasks, improving workflow efficiency, and enhancing decision-making processes.
- Relentless curiosity, flexibility and willingness to challenge the status quo.
- High level of integrity, accountability and dedication.
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