Lead Technical Program Manager

Job ID 10102762 Location Santa Monica, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States Business Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology Date posted Oct. 11, 2024

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"There are so many opportunities to grow and learn within Disney! There is never a dull moment at work."

Diana, Principal Counsel

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working for Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology:

Building the future of Disney’s media business : DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
Reach & Scale : The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
Innovation : We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

Business Operations is the glue of DE&E Technology, with a relentless focus on connecting all the pieces of the business. All the components that make up the organization – engineering, product, design, operations, support and more – come together and move the business forward with oversight, effective prioritization, and guidance. This team synthesizes information from across the business to ensure leaders are armed with all the necessary data before making strategic and financial decisions. From forecasting, funding, tracking, and reporting on projects, to ways of working, and resource management, Business Operations has visibility and input into all aspects of the team.

This position resides within Engineering Program Management and supports the Media Supply Chain, Media Processing and Distribution organization responsible for encoding, encapsulating, and distributing live and VOD video, audio, media metadata, subtitles/captions, thumbnails, and ads for delivery to our audiences within Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and other globally prominent streaming products.

Job Summary:

The Technical Program Manager is responsible for driving deliverables for the live and VOD video Processing and Packaging Services team. This involves daily hands-on backlog/roadmap management of technology activities utilizing Agile and Scrum software development practices while balancing priorities and supporting on-time engineering execution. This also includes working with multiple technical teams and Product groups to effectively drive building, testing, and deploying cross-functional dependent services.

In addition, someone in this position is expected to drive cross-team programs that impact their domain, working closely with distributed engineering and project leads, architects, and product managers to estimate, schedule, track, report and ultimately deliver critical initiatives for the business.

This role requires a wide range of leadership competencies, technical experience, and communications skills. The Senior Technical Project Manager is responsible for delivering using Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology processes, tools and methodologies; this includes the development of the scope of work and the management of time, work-breakdown, cost, risk, and communications.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

Drive discovery, planning, and execution of domain software from start to finish, including management of cross-functional touchpoints across technical teams, including:

Orchestrate team ceremonies, while contributing to positive team dynamics, morale and motivation that builds a culture where all members and points of view are respected
Call and run meetings to conclusion and/or actionable outcome, including with groups of people beyond the immediate team
Document decisions/results/notes professionally and in a timely manner
Leverage experience with Agile and Scrum to manage releases and balance task priorities across multiple projects
Solve complex problems rapidly in a challenging, dynamic environment with minimal direction
Partner with engineering leadership on team process perpetually across sprints/projects/programs
Communicate with transparency and regularity to business and technical senior management, delivery teams and stakeholders regarding project highlights and overall health
Convey complex and/or difficult information effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences, including Executives
Influence key decision-makers/stakeholders towards new business processes and technical solutions that best serve The Walt Disney Company

Deliver quality solutions that provide desired business goals and/or solve reported issues on-time and within budget:

Dive into technical details, understanding and providing input on overall technical designs
Identify scope of technical inputs and outputs as dependencies for other engineering teams
Lead engineering teams through the identification and timely management of risks and the resolution of issues, escalating to management as appropriate
Produce actionable tickets that inform engineering and quality assurance of desired outputs, utilizing Global Program Management standards to tag project work for effective status rollup
Triage open/backlog items prior to sprint planning; collect and track sizing estimates for burndown reports; gain experience from past sizing and be comfortable sizing independent of engineering
Collaborate with product partners to help define/scope feature requirements and work with software architects, technical leads, and product to determine how best to build our engineering solution and meet our overall requirements

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications:

7+ years of experience managing progressively complex, modern application software development projects
Talent leading virtual meetings with distributed teams, including executive sponsors, business partners and dependent service organizations
Expert with project management tools, including: Confluence, JIRA, Smartsheets, Airtable
Proficiency in Agile Project Management methods; including Scrum and/or Kanban

Preferred Qualifications:

Extensive knowledge of distributed application software development life cycle, including microservices deployed into AWS as well as on-premise data centers
Prior experience with or understanding of video processing & media streaming technologies
Established experience with, or a willingness to rapidly learn back-end streaming media concepts and formats, such as Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) encoding, encryption, HLS, CMAF, AC3 and HEVC
Growing understanding of content distribution network (CDN) technologies/providers and commonalities for an upstream media provider

Required Education:

BA/BS or equivalent experience required

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, CA is $152,200.00 to $204,100.00 per year and in Seattle, WA and New York, NY is $156,300.00 to $209,600.00 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

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About Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology (DE&E Technology) provides the technological backbone and product development for Disney’s two media business units, while helping to keep the company at the vanguard of innovation – enabling the Company to continuously leverage technology to enhance storytelling and creativity, while delivering scalability, flexibility, and efficiency for its businesses.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Disney Streaming Technology LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology.

Disney Streaming Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, email Candidate.Accommodations@Disney.com with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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