Manager, Tech Project Management

At Disney Experiences Technology, our team creates world-class immersive and digital experiences for the Company’s vacation brands, Disney’s Parks and Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club. The Disney Experiences Technology team is responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digital-led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, and Merchandise lines of business as well as other initiatives including the MyDisneyExperience app and Hey, Disney! 

The Manager, Tech Project Management for Disney Signature Experiences is responsible for leading a team of Project Managers, tasked with delivering sophisticated technology and digital projects, partnering with internal & external partners and vendors. The Manager, Tech Project Management will concurrently lead multiple medium to large scale projects across applications and Disney Signature Experience businesses. The position ensures timely and on-schedule delivery for their projects working closely with External Business partners, Product, Technology, and Design. Additionally, this leader will make certain there is collaboration and communication regarding all projects with the Portfolio and Financial teams to build visibility and drive business decisions.

What You'll Do:

Leadership

• Lead and encourage a team of Cast and third party project managers to build a cohesive team

• Play an active role in team growth through the mentoring and development of talent

• Sponsor process improvements that serve as a motivator for project management excellence

• Proactively communicate across all involved groups within our organization to promote visibility, accuracy with forecasting, project/product planning and delivery processes.

Project Estimation

• Facilitate scope definition, and high-level planning, discovery, and estimation workshops for projects with cross-functional teams

• Quantify cost factors to deliver project results including resources, project oversight, objective risk and related contingency

• Detail key assumptions and dependencies established through estimation activities

• Prepare high-level plan with estimates for executives and cross-functional leaders based on estimate outcomes

Project Planning

• Create project timeline and communication plans

• Ensure proactive scheduling of key results, tasks and achievements

• Establish project financial forecasts including resource plans and other expense plans

• Develop the project plan and schedule with cross subject area leads

• Ensure vital steps and dependencies to deliver projects and components are established

• Validate that scope can be completed within timeline and budget

• Partner with the Security and Compliance delivery team to ensure any known vulnerabilities are planned to be addressed within the project

• Estimate resource needs with help from functional leads

Project Delivery

• Authoritatively lead and drive cross-functional projects, and individual project tracks of large programs through full delivery life-cycle ensuring project is delivered on-time and on-budget

• Handle resource assignment, budget, scheduling, and scope prioritization, and change control

• Work with cross field team members to validate project assumptions and review project plans with leadership

• Ensure proper documentation of scope of work with help from cross team functional leads

• Serve as primary liaison among multiple teams, including Product Management, Design, Technology, vendors and other key functional delivery teams for the project (when appropriate)

• Communicate regular updates to project and executive leadership team on delivery progress, plan updates and budget spend and forecast, including status report updates, financial/budget/variance reports, and other reporting as required

• Supervise adherence to schedule and commitments

• Raise key issues and risks to ensure timely resolution and mitigation

• Prevent scope creep, record causes of change, and facilitate change requests to ensure impacts to schedule or budget, as well as forecasts, are approved and communicated in a timely manner

• Use metrics, including burn-down charts, to drive performance, efficiency and forecast improvements

• Ensure proper project closure including retroactive/lessons learned, transition and hand-off to production operations support, and final financial reporting

Required Qualifications & Skills :

• Direct management and accountability for single project budgets of $2 - $15M in labor

• A minimum 8 years of relevant work experience in project management

• Strong project leader with proven track record in leading large, multidisciplinary digital teams (preferably websites, mobile web, and apps)

• 2-5 years Agile delivery experience

• 3 years of client management experience in efficiently delivering internet solutions, preferably in a global client-service organization

• Experience in a matrixed responsibility organization working with multiple Product Managers per effort

• Strong experience facilitating the gathering and development of requirements for sophisticated solutions

• Possesses significant practical experience in the basics of project management (estimation, project planning, resource planning, issue management, risk management, organizational change, communication planning).

• Experienced in multiple full lifecycle software deliveries from business development to final software acceptance

• Led teams with multiple subject area represented (including product management/strategy, technology, design, SEO, and analytics)

• Confirmed accomplishment as a driver of multiple projects running concurrently

• Proven track record leading individual project budgets and budget roll-up of multiple projects

• Ability to lead teams to a successful delivery approach

• Able to work both collaboratively and independently while maintaining a high level of productivity under high pressure situations

• Must possess excellent business communication, writing, and social skills

• Proactive and solution-oriented when leading issues

• Comfortable when communicating with executive level (Directors, VPs) in presentations, working sessions, and 1-on-1 interactions

• Use good judgment skills on when to seek guidance and when to raise risks and issues

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent work experience