Commercial Planning Manager

Overall Purpose of the Role

Disney+ is The Walt Disney Company’s new Direct to Consumer video entertainment service targeted to families. The service will consist of long form and short form video built around five key content brands (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic) with an appealing and easy to use interface accessed across multiple platforms (e.g. televisions, mobile devices, PCs).

The Disney+ team is responsible for the launch and day to day operation of Disney+ across Europe and Africa, specifically focused on customer acquisition and retention, marketing, partnerships and synergy, content programming, research and analytics. Within that team, the newly-created Commercial Performance and Planning team is responsible for providing a consolidated view of ongoing E&A trading performance of Disney+, driving insights and decision-making to optimise sign-ups and subscriber growth, and overseeing the Disney+ annual and quarterly planning process. It works closely with the brand and performance marketing teams, the country teams (which have dedicated trading leads as key local counterparts), the E&A BD & strategy team, as well as Finance and Analytics teams across the region and DSS in NY.

We are looking for a forward-thinking, analytically minded Commercial Planning Manager to join our Disney+ Trading team. The purpose of the role is to ensure we have well-defined and socialised targets for sign-ups, marketing budgets, retention and other key DTC metrics, both for the long term and to guide the business on a quarterly, weekly and daily basis.

This is a pivotal role within the Disney+ EMEA business, which will work in collaboration across regional Disney+ functions, BD and Finance teams, as well as with local market teams and the US ad sales and Finance teams.

This position requires someone to work from our Hammersmith offices 4 days a week.

Areas of Responsibility

Key elements and required results of the role

• Supporting on the development of D+ annual strategy and annual planning for Disney+ subscriber growth across acquisition and retention across multiple tiers and markets, leveraging market and competitor insights, learnings from D+ research, past performance, analysis on future trends

• Supporting quarterly planning including quarterly targets, strategy, operational planning and ruthless prioritisation process, working closely with marketing and finance teams

• Leading monthly / bi-monthly forecasting process for Disney+ subscriber growth across acquisition and retention, for retail and wholesale customers, in close partnership with Disney+ Finance teams

• Work in close collaboration with US DTC Finance and commercial teams to align on latest EMEA plans, strategic initiatives, content targets, planning methodologies (e.g. LTV, ad tier engagement)

• Model business cases and scenarios to support decision-making on pricing, go-to-market strategies, optimisation of monetisation

• Conducting deep-dive analyses on drivers of performance for the past quarter

• Supporting in preparation for EMEA & US commercial updates

Areas of Accountability

Commercial Planning Senior Manager

Trading Director

Experience and Professional Qualifications Required

• Experience working in data-driven environments and driving decision-making through data

• Experience in consulting or finance preferred

• Ability to tailor comms to different audiences (e.g. country teams, global teams, execs)

Skills & competencies required

• High numeracy and analytical ability & rigour, attention to detail

• Ability to challenge high-level numbers and develop quick & accurate ‘back of the enveloppe’ scenarios

• Clear and succinct communication skills

• Skilled at prioritising and managing multiple project schedules and deadlines that run simultaneously

• Demonstrated success in influencing cross-functional teams, stakeholders and leadership

• High degree of integrity

• Positive, people-oriented, and energetic attitude

• Ability to work autonomously