Lead Technical Program Mgr

The Walt Disney Company; California, Northern (MO, KY); Hybrid; USD 156,000 - 209,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Medical benefits

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company is seeking a Lead Technical Program Manager in CA to oversee highly complex, cross‑functional programs within Disney Entertainment & ESPN Product & Technology. You will drive planning, coordination across teams, and executive‑level reporting to ensure on‑time, successful delivery.

Ideal candidates bring 7+ years of large‑scale program management, strong Agile/Waterfall skills, and superb communication.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing large-scale, strategic software development programs within a global tech organization.
• Expertise in Agile or Waterfall program management methodologies (Scrum/Kanban/Scaled Agile).
• Strong planning, delivery, and problem-solving skills; excellent written and verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution and delivery of highly complex programs with cross-functional impact.
• Develop comprehensive plans and timelines accounting for dependencies.
• Proactively identify risks and drive mitigation and contingency plans.

Skills

Program management

Agile

Waterfall

Planning

Stakeholder management

Communication

Leadership

Education

BA/BS or equivalent

Job description

Lead Technical Program Mgr

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Product & Technology

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment & 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

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.

The Global Program Management team for Commerce is focused driving new and existing membership growth for our streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) through a focus on plans, upsells, prices, promotions, payments, and cancel/saves.

This is a staff position within DEEP&T’s: Business Operations - Global Program Management organization. The Lead Technical Program Manager will focus on the planning and execution of complex programs that may span several areas of Commerce, or may cut across the department and other DEEP&T groups. They may also assist with the triage of other programs to help form recommendations to senior leadership.

This position requires proven experience in program management. Ideal candidates must be highly proactive, detail-oriented, and able to autonomously work on multiple assignments. They must be capable of attaining a strong understanding of technical details and clearly communicating schedules, risks, status, and processes to a variety of business and technical audiences. They must be able to partner with closely with other program managers and technical leads to coordinate schedules and deliverables.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Lead execution and delivery of highly complex and strategically prioritized programs with cross-functional and organizational impact.
• Develop plans and timelines, accounting for all dependencies
• Ensure transparency of progress and issues/risks. Proactively drive risk mitigation and contingency planning, along with issue resolution
• Communicate status and program summaries via presentations/dashboards, email, and direct communication with key stakeholders and executive leadership
• Ensure that all involved parties understand and accept their roles and responsibilities and are held accountable to their deliverables
• Perform capacity planning for teams
• Collaborate with other program management colleagues to coordinate activities across multiple technology teams
• Deep understanding of most program domain technical components, including architecture, tools and deployment practices that development team is employing, including cross-system interactions and dependencies
• Track and report key program metrics
• Partner with Product to facilitate advancement of intake pipeline, sometimes helping to triage programs to make recommendations to senior leadership
• Effortlessly sift through “noise” and facilitate discussions and activities with a laser focus towards results
• Navigate the TWDC to effectively drive progress, even when the scope of responsibilities may be unclear
• Exemplify leadership characteristics through collaboration, work ethic, and creative thinking. Strive to inspire others and deliver the best possible outputs
• Define, optimize, and manage ceremonies and processes at the team-of-teams level
• Act as a trusted advisor to executives, providing input on program feasibility, risks, prioritization, and the delivery trade‑offs associated with key decisions
• Influence and align cross‑functional and external partners without direct authority, resolving conflicts and driving program outcomes with minimal escalation
• Leverage AI‑driven tools to design and continuously improve scalable delivery processes, governance models, and reporting frameworks tailored to organizational needs, eliminating inefficiencies and supporting excellence at scale
• Proactively drive, track, and report on budgets
• Coordinate with external vendors, where applicable
• Mentor other TPMs, elevating the overall maturity of program management practices across the organization

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing large-scale, strategic, software development programs in a well-established global technology organization
• Proven ability to facilitate effective communication across disparate teams
• Expertise in Agile or Waterfall program management methods that may include Scrum, Kanban, and/or Scaled Agile
• Evidence of strong planning, delivery, and problem‑solving skills
• Superb written and verbal communications, presentation skills, and meeting facilitation skills (especially when working with senior leadership)

Experience with:

• Experience working in a media technology environment
• Ad tech domain knowledge, or demonstrated aptitude for learning a technology‑based engineering domain

Required Education

• BA/BS or equivalent experience required
• Formal project management certifications preferred

The base salary for this position in Glendale and Santa Monica, CA is $155,700 - $208,700. 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.

About Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology:

At Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, we’re blending imagination and innovation to reimagine the ways people experience and engage with the world’s most beloved stories and products. Our work is wide‑ranging and deeply sophisticated. We create amazing experiences, transform the future of media, and build products and platforms that enable the connection between people everywhere and the stories and sports they love.

Disney’s ability to marry world‑class technology with one‑of‑a‑kind creativity makes us unique. It is at the heart of our past, present, and future. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers.

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 Entertainment & Sports LLC , which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology .

Disney Entertainment & Sports 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.

Disability Accommodation for Employment Applications

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, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs . We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.