Senior Media Delivery Operations Specialist

ESPN; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 82,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

ESPN’s Product & Technology team is seeking a Senior Media Delivery Operations Specialist in Santa Monica to own complex metadata, artwork, and platform services for Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+. You will partner with Product and Engineering to understand platform behaviors and drive operational improvements.

The role requires a minimum of 5 years experience in digital media operations, strong data/technical skills with JSON/XML, APIs, and SQL, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years related work experience.
• Bachelor's Degree in TV/Film Production, Communications, Computer Science, Data Science/Analytics, or similar.
• Demonstrated experience supporting digital media platforms, metadata systems, or content operations in a production environment.
• Strong working knowledge of metadata and artwork workflows for VOD and live content.
• Experience troubleshooting complex operational issues across platform services and content systems.
• Familiarity with JSON and XML structures and formatting.
• Experience interacting with APIs or API documentation (e.g., Swagger).
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and exercise sound operational judgment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Tier 2 operational support for metadata, artwork, and platform services impacting Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to understand platform behaviors, operational requirements, and system dependencies.
• Drive operational needs related to digital supply chain initiatives, platform tooling, and content business priorities.
• Act as a reliable operational point of contact during platform-level issues, ensuring timely engagement and resolution.
• Independently investigate and troubleshoot complex metadata, artwork, and platform system issues affecting content availability or presentation.
• Analyze trends, recurring failures, and systemic issues to identify root causes and recommend corrective actions.
• Create, manage, and document incidents and remediation efforts, clearly communicating impact, status, and resolution.
• Escalate issues appropriately to engineering teams, providing detailed technical context and operational findings.
• Support on-call rotations and respond to off-hours incidents as needed to maintain platform reliability.
• Maintain and update operational documentation, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides to reflect current workflows.
• Support onboarding and training of new team members, sharing subject-matter expertise and best practices.
• Serve as a knowledgeable resource for peers, helping resolve questions and reinforce standards.
• Promote adherence to established procedures, escalation paths, and operational expectations.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Independence

Education

Bachelor's degree (TV/Film Production, Communications, Computer Science, Data Science/Analytics, or similar)

Tools

JSON

XML

APIs

Swagger

SQL

Job description

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:

• 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 Platform Operations team within Disney Entertainment & ESPN Product & Technology provides Tier 2 operational support for Disney’s direct‑to‑consumer platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The team is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and operational health of platform‑level systems supporting metadata, artwork, and content presentation across the DTC ecosystem.

The Senior Media Delivery Operator is an experienced individual contributor who independently owns complex platform operations workflows and serves as a trusted operational and technical resource. This role focuses on identifying, triaging, and resolving issues related to metadata, artwork, and platform services that impact content discovery, availability, and user experience. The Senior Operator exercises sound judgment during incidents, partners closely with engineering and product teams, and contributes to platform stability through root‑cause analysis, documentation, and continuous improvement.

As a Senior Media Delivery Operations Specialist, you will work among a small team responsible for identifying, troubleshooting, triaging, and improving upon an array of complex metadata, artwork, and systems challenges.

• Follow established content issue escalation process for VOD; work to improve upon established escalation processes.
• Be a voice of operational improvement within Hulu's digital supply chain and content toolset; independently and proactively analyze operational workflows to propose scalable solutions to operational issues.
• Maintain documentation and runbook accuracy through regular refinement or creation.
• Provide operational guidance and communicate tech challenges and business requirements effectively to a variety of stakeholders
• Manage multiple tasks simultaneously and be able to respond to issues in a timely and effective manner
• Willingness to take part in a rotating on‑call schedule to address timely issues off‑hours.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Tier 2 operational support for metadata, artwork, and platform services impacting Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to understand platform behaviors, operational requirements, and system dependencies.
• Drive operational needs related to digital supply chain initiatives, platform tooling, and content business priorities.
• Act as a reliable operational point of contact during platform‑level issues, ensuring timely engagement and resolution.
• Independently investigate and troubleshoot complex metadata, artwork, and platform system issues affecting content availability or presentation.
• Analyze trends, recurring failures, and systemic issues to identify root causes and recommend corrective actions.
• Create, manage, and document incidents and remediation efforts, clearly communicating impact, status, and resolution.
• Escalate issues appropriately to engineering teams, providing detailed technical context and operational findings.
• Support on‑call rotations and respond to off‑hours incidents as needed to maintain platform reliability
• Maintain and update operational documentation, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides to reflect current workflows.
• Support onboarding and training of new team members, sharing subject‑matter expertise and best practices.
• Serve as a knowledgeable resource for peers, helping resolve questions and reinforce standards.
• Promote adherence to established procedures, escalation paths, and operational expectations.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years related work experience
• Bachelor's Degree in TV/Film Production, Communications, Computer Science, Data Science/Analytics, or similar
• Demonstrated experience supporting digital media platforms, metadata systems, or content operations in a production environment.
• Strong working knowledge of metadata and artwork workflows for VOD and live content.
• Experience troubleshooting complex operational issues across platform services and content systems.
• Familiarity with JSON and XML structures and formatting.
• Experience interacting with APIs or API documentation (e.g., Swagger).
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced operational environment.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and exercise sound operational judgment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with VOD packaging and delivery standards such as MDDF and ADI.
• Experience querying or analyzing data using SQL.
• Background in media operations, platform operations, or reliability‑focused teams.

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, CA is $81,900.00 to $109,700.00 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.

Disclaimer

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

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Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. 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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