Manager, Product Management

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working for Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

• Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
• Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
• Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

The Product Management team guides the strategy and vision for Disney’s incredible global digital products portfolio - from Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the ESPN App to Marvel Unlimited, National Geographic, ABC and ABC News, and film websites and games. This team impacts the way millions of people around the world experience and engage with Disney’s iconic stories and unmatched content in more personalized and immersive ways, leveraging cutting-edge technologies ranging from Machine Learning to Extended Reality.

Job Summary:

The Media Product team represents media platform capabilities and operator orchestration tools that enable content flows for live events and linear channels across DTC and traditional distribution methods. We are looking for a Manager of Product Management to lead the Media Acquisition and General Entertainment Media Pipeline teams. In this role, you will be responsible for the services and workflows that enable VOD and Live media components to be acquired, operationally processed, published, and maintained. These pipelines power content delivery to Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ services and support a wide array of packaging formats, media types, and content shapes, including both Media and Metadata acquisition. This team defines our media ingestion specifications and the tools that facilitate the Live and VOD content QC and publishing process used by our operators and content partners alike. Another key component of this ecosystem are the media asset management tools and workflows that power content delivery to linear, DTC, and 3rd party platforms for ABC, FX, Nat Geo, and Disney Channels globally. 

Responsibilities

• Lead the team of product managers responsible for delivering initiatives supporting media supply chain acquisition, including both metadata and media ingest.  
• Develop the overall product roadmap and related sub-initiatives in collaboration with partners in Engineering, Operations, and Product management. 
• In collaboration with the Director, develop a vision for interconnected content flow supporting linear, DTC, and other TWDC lines of business. 
• Provide coaching, mentoring and support to people leaders and individual contributors by setting clear expectations, sharing actionable feedback, and supporting both career growth and personal development.
• Partner with data science, engineering, and other product teams to identify new product and process opportunities to efficiently deliver content to both internal and external distribution partners 
• Maintain strategic insight into the latest industry trends for video preparation and streaming
• Work with stakeholders to establish and identify product goals and define product roadmap and KPIs

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management or relevant experience required.
• Familiarity with Content Distribution standards such as MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework (MDDF), EMA Avails, CableLabs ADI, etc. 
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data-driven insights to inform product decisions, measure performance, and optimize the user experience.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Proven ability to drive product initiatives from concept to delivery.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expert understanding of content distribution requirements as they relate to different lines of business (i.e. first run broadcast, MVPD, international broadcast, SVOD, TVOD, AVOD and DTC) and the relevant requirements on scheduling, rights, title metadata, and other ancillary assets (images, bonus, trailers).
• Understanding of playable media component formats and types (IMF, ProRes, Atmos, Dolby Vision, W3C TTML, MPEG Transport and Program streams, MXF). 
• Experience working within a studio, post-production facility, or on a streaming platform is a plus.
• Expert comprehension regarding file formats, resolution, dynamic range, frame rates, audio asset types, images and the use and conversion between various combinations as they relate to asset management, transcoding, and distribution.
• Experience creating and managing specifications for a content creator and/or aggregator.
• Video encoding and packaging product management or hands-on operations experience. 

Required Education  

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field required

The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA and Santa Monica, CA and Bristol, CT is $164,500 to $220,600 per year, in Seattle, WA and New York, NY is $172,300 to $231,100 per year, in San Francisco, CA is $180,200 to $241,600 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.