Director, Software Engineering

The Walt Disney Company; Glendale (CA); On-site; USD 218,000 - 307,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Medical benefits

Long-term incentives

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company in Glendale, CA is seeking a Director to lead AI Enablement & Strategy for Disney Experiences Technology. This role owns the AI augmentation roadmap, ROI framework, and adoption initiatives across senior stakeholders.

You will drive culture change toward an AI-native mindset, coordinate across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Project Management, and Design, and ensure scalable, measurable value from AI programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in CS, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years in technology with 5+ years in leadership roles.
• Experience leading technology augmentation programs across complex orgs.
• Proven ability to define and track technology ROI and value dashboards.
• Strong change management and executive stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI augmentation roadmap and operating model across DXT.
• Own AI Value Dashboard, ROI framework, and KPI reporting to senior leadership.
• Manage multiple workstreams, dependencies, risk, and investment prioritization.
• Drive adoption, culture change, and AI fluency across product and engineering teams.
• Partner with finance on AI investment forecasting and OKR/KPI definitions.
• Communicate rationale for AI decisions and align stakeholders across functions.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder management

Change management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

About The Role

The Director, AI Enablement & Strategy is the augmentation portfolio owner and culture change leader for Disney Experiences Technology. Reporting to the VP of AI Augmentation Strategy, this role owns the DXT AI augmentation roadmap and operating model, from strategy and prioritization through adoption and scale, and drives the culture shift that moves engineering and product teams toward an AI-native mindset. This role is the primary face of the AI augmentation program to senior stakeholders across DXT.

Responsibilities

AI Vision & Operating Model (Value Generation)

• Lead multiple technical development teams in partnership across DXT to set technical direction to enable value generation.
• Establish and communicate the AI augmentation roadmap and operating model across DXT, translating strategic direction into a sequenced, resourced plan with clear owners and milestones.
• Own the AI Value Dashboard and ROI framework, attributing measurable improvements in KPIs, productivity, quality, and value stream velocity to specific augmentation initiatives; report outcomes to senior leadership and executive sponsors.
• Lead the portfolio view across all AI augmentation workstreams, managing dependencies, sequencing, risk, issue escalation, and investment prioritization across a complex, concurrent program.
• Partner with finance and portfolio management on AI investment forecasting, value capture modeling, and OKR/KPI definition.
• Influence and align senior stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Project Management, Operations, Design, and Quality on AI augmentation priorities, accelerating decisions and resolving fragmentation that slows progress.
• Manage risk and issues across the augmentation workstreams, ensuring blockers surface and resolve without loss of momentum.

Culture Shift & Adoption (Culture Shift)

• Lead the culture shift toward AI fluency and an AI-native mindset, designing and scaling experimentation programs, developer fluency initiatives, and adoption pathways that meet cast where they are.
• Own adoption and sentiment tracking across DXT; use data to identify where adoption is accelerating, stalling, or at risk, and drive targeted interventions.
• Design and run structured change management across the AI augmentation program, partnering with change management resources and Gemstone AI to ensure practices are embraced and sustained.
• Communicate the "why" behind AI augmentation decisions clearly and compellingly, connecting teams to the bigger picture and promoting ownership for outcomes.

AI Process Re-Engineering (Cross-cutting)

• Reimagine end-to-end value stream workflows using AI, moving beyond tool adoption to redesign how software is planned, built, tested, and operated; lead value stream mapping, workflow design, and AI interaction SOPs.
• Partner with the AI Engineering Tools & Practice function and persona-based SMEs to ensure process redesign is grounded in available tooling and can scale to repeatable patterns.
• Leverage strong SDLC understanding and technical acumen to connect AI-enabled changes to engineering practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in technology, including 5+ years in management or senior leadership roles.
• Demonstrated ability to design and run technology augmentation programs across complex, matrixed organizations with multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Experience defining and tracking technology ROI and value dashboards for senior leadership.
• Strong change management and organizational influence skills; track record of driving adoption and culture change without direct authority.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, including senior executive engagement.
• Strong change management capability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building developer fluency programs, AI adoption initiatives, or communities of practice at scale.
• Familiarity with value stream redesign, process re-engineering, and value stream mapping.
• Large-scale consumer-facing technology environment (theme parks, media, hospitality, or similar).
• Advanced degree or certifications in technology leadership, augmentation, or change management.

The hiring range for this position in Orlando, FL is $217,800 to $292,100 per year and in Glendale, CA is $228,700 to $306,700 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.