Sr Technical Program Mgr (PH)

Disney Entertainment; Glendale (CA); On-site; USD 131,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is seeking a Technical Program Manager in the Business Operations – Global Program Management group to plan and execute complex Ad Platforms programs. You will partner with product managers and technical leads to coordinate schedules, deliverables, and dependencies across teams.

The role requires proactive, detail-oriented work and the ability to communicate schedules, risks, and progress to business and technical audiences.

Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent experience required.
• 5+ years of experience managing large-scale, strategic software development programs in a global technology organization.
• Proven ability to facilitate effective communication across disparate teams.
• Expertise in Agile or Waterfall program management methods (Scrum, Kanban, Scaled Agile).
• Evidence of strong planning, delivery, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communications, presentation skills, and meeting facilitation with senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Drive activities for large, strategic, technically complex programs.
• Develop plans and timelines, accounting for all dependencies.
• Ensure transparency of progress and issues/risks; drive risk mitigation and contingency planning.
• Communicate status, updates, and program summaries to stakeholders and executives.
• Ensure all parties understand roles and are accountable for deliverables.
• Facilitate all build activities (including QA) as per plan.
• Proactively track and report on budgets.
• Perform capacity planning for teams.
• Collaborate with other program management colleagues across tech teams.
• Understand architecture, tools and deployment practices used by the development teams.
• Track and report key program metrics; inform stakeholders accordingly.
• Independently manage activities and resolve conflicts with minimal management influence.
• Navigate Disney TWDC to drive progress even when scope is unclear.
• Demonstrate leadership, collaboration, work ethic, and creative thinking.

Skills

Program management

Communication

Agile/Waterfall

Planning & problem-solving

Leadership

Education

BA/BS or equivalent experience

Job description

Job Requirements

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

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 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.

Job Summary

This is a position within the DE&E Product + Technology: Business Operations - Global Program Management organization, supporting our Ad Platforms technology group. The Technical Program Manager will focus on the planning and execution of complex programs that may span several areas of Ad Platforms, or may cut across the department and other DEE Technology groups.

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 project managers and technical leads to coordinate schedules, deliverables, and dependencies.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role

• Drive activities for large, strategic, technically complex, priority programs
• 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, updates, and program summaries via presentations, 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
• Facilitate all build activities (including QA), as per plan
• Proactively drive, track, and report on budgets
• Perform capacity planning for teams
• Collaborate with other program management colleagues to coordinate activities across multiple technology teams
• Strong 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, informing stakeholders as appropriate
• Independently manage activities and resolve conflict within associated teams, with minimal influence from management
• 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
• Coordinate with external vendors, where applicable
• May manage Agile ceremonies and processes at the team‑of‑teams level

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training

Basic Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent experience required
• 5+ 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)

Preferred Qualifications

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

Disclaimer

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in California is $131,200.00 to $176,000.00 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.

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, 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.

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 (https://support.disneycareers.com/hc/en-us/sections/32131060143380-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.

Having technical issues? View the FAQs for help. (https://support.disneycareers.com/hc/en-us)

The Walt Disney Company 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 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.

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.