Technical Director

The Walt Disney Studios; Iver Heath; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days leave

Medical & dental care

Park entry for family and friends

Disney discounts

Parental leave

Employee Resource Groups

Job summary

The Walt Disney Studios in London is seeking a highly skilled Technical Director to support a fast-paced visual effects production unit. You will build and maintain production pipelines, provide frontline support to artists, coordinators and producers, and collaborate with our Los Angeles TD team to ensure seamless cross-time-zone operations.

Ideal candidates will have expert Python, strong VFX pipeline experience, and familiarity with ShotGrid, RV, DaVinci Resolve, and large data transfers.

Qualifications

• Expert-level Python for pipeline and tool development.
• Strong experience building and maintaining VFX production pipelines and workflows.
• Deep familiarity with Flow Production Tracking (ShotGrid).
• Experience with RV and DaVinci Resolve for review and playback.
• Strong understanding of production environments, file systems, and asset management.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable production tools, pipelines, and workflows for VFX production.
• Provide day-to-day technical support to production teams, troubleshooting issues across pipeline, tools, and data flow.
• Act as a bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating requirements into actionable solutions.
• Support and maintain production tracking app using Flow Production Tracking and related tools.
• Work with screening room and review workflows, or learn quickly.
• Assist with large-scale data transfers using Signiant and Aspera.
• Document workflows, tools, and issues clearly for cross-site collaboration (JIRA tickets, emails, updates).
• Collaborate with Los Angeles TD team to ensure continuity across time zones.
• Take ownership of tasks from pipeline engineering to hands-on technical assistance.

Skills

Python

VFX pipelines

ShotGrid/Flow Production Tracking

RV & DaVinci Resolve

Asset management

Tools

JIRA

Signiant

Aspera

FileMaker Pro

Job description

About The Team

It’s the magic of immersing yourself in a motion picture masterpiece, or a new track from your favorite band, or the spectacle of a live Broadway show. It’s hard to define and even harder to create, but that’s what we do at The Walt Disney Studios. Ours is a culture of innovation, collaboration, and creativity. We raise the bar, then step over it, blazing trails through the production and distribution of world class entertainment around the globe. If you want to help, tell compelling, enduring stories through movies, music or stage plays, then we want to hear from you.

About The Team

It’s the magic of immersing yourself in a motion picture masterpiece, or a new track from your favorite band, or the spectacle of a live Broadway show. It’s hard to define and even harder to create, but that’s what we do at The Walt Disney Studios. Ours is a culture of innovation, collaboration, and creativity. We raise the bar, then step over it, blazing trails through the production and distribution of world class entertainment around the globe. If you want to help, tell compelling, enduring stories through movies, music or stage plays, then we want to hear from you.

As part of the Studio Technology organization, you will join a group of seasoned technologists dedicated to solving a range of creative problems through innovation, strategy, and forward thinking. This role sits within the Motion Picture Labs at Walt Disney Studios, which is a group of specialty film making labs in Production Technology providing production services, research, development, innovation and support required for civilized filmmaking.

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled and adaptable Technical Director to support our London-based production unit within a fast-paced Visual Effects environment. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on solving complex production challenges, building robust tools and workflows, and collaborating closely with both technical teams and non-technical production staff.

You will play a key role in developing and maintaining production pipelines, while also acting as a frontline support resource for artists, coordinators, and producers. This position works closely with our Los Angeles based Technical Director team, requiring clear communication and effective cross-time-zone collaboration.

Role & Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable production tools, pipelines, and workflows for VFX production.
• Provide day-to-day technical support to production teams, troubleshooting issues across pipeline, tools, and data flow.
• Act as a bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating requirements into actionable solutions.
• Support and maintain production tracking app using Flow Production Tracking and related tools.
• Working knowledge of screening room and review workflows, or the ability to learn them quickly.
• Assist with large-scale data transfers, including troubleshooting and operational support for platforms such as Signiant and Aspera.
• Document workflows, tools, and issues clearly for cross-site collaboration, including JIRA tickets and internal communications.
• Collaborate with the Los Angeles Technical Director team to ensure continuity of support across time zones.
• Take ownership of a wide range of tasks, from high-level pipeline engineering to hands‑on technical assistance as needed.

Qualifications And Experience

• Expert-level proficiency in Python for pipeline and tool development.
• Strong experience building and maintaining VFX production pipelines and workflows.
• Deep familiarity with Flow Production Tracking (Shotgrid).
• Experience with industry-standard review tools such as RV and DaVinci Resolve.
• Strong understanding of production environments, file systems, and asset management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with FileMaker Pro.
• Knowledge of large data transfer platforms such as Signiant and Aspera.
• Experience building web applications (e.g., full‑stack or backend tools for production workflows).
• Familiarity with additional programming languages beyond Python.

Soft Skills & Attributes

• Exceptional multitasking ability in a high‑pressure, fast‑paced production environment.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain technical concepts to non‑technical users.
• Proactive problem‑solver with a "no task too small" mindset.
• Comfortable handling a mix of responsibilities, including tasks that may extend beyond traditional Technical Director duties.
• Highly organized with strong documentation and follow‑through skills.

Working Environment

• Based in London, supporting a local production team.
• Daily collaboration with a distributed Technical Director team in Los Angeles.
• Requires effective communication across time zones, including clear written documentation (e.g., JIRA tickets, emails, and chat updates) to ensure seamless handoff of tasks and issues.

The Perks

• 25 days annual leave
• Private medical insurance & dental care
• Free Park Entry: You will have the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free
• Disney Discounts: you are entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing
• Excellent parental and guardian leave
• Employee Resource Groups – WOMEN @ Disney, Disney Mosaic, Disney PRIDE, our disability & neurodiversity focused group - ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

This position is with The Walt Disney Company Limited, which is part of a business we call The Walt Disney Studios. To learn more about Disney's guidelines on the use of AI for candidates,

The Walt Disney Company Limited is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, colour, religion or belief, sex, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, disability or pregnancy or maternity. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.