Sr Product Mgr II

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.

Content Platforms & Operations is responsible for the development and ongoing advancement of the technical and operational functions driving the worldwide distribution and monetization of Disney’s linear networks and theatrical content. This includes Disney’s media supply chain and storage, network and theatrical distribution operations, media localization, network transmission and origination, and more. The global team also plays a critical role as the primary collaboration point for Product & Technology with Disney’s EMEA, APAC, and LATAM regional business teams.

As a member of the Product Management team, you will have the opportunity to dive deep into the business capabilities and learn the processes behind how Disney's top tier content is planned to how it is delivered to consumers and everything in between. Your responsibilities include gathering & prioritizing business requirements and translating that into product specifications. Working in a cross-functional team environment with design, engineering, infrastructure, QA, and other product managers, you will help reimagine the product for the future business of The Walt Disney Company, with focus on maximizing automation, driving operational improvements, and supporting the acceleration of our content businesses.  

Job Summary:

Content Platforms’ Data & Platforms team is responsible for the tools and services that enable AI/ML to enrich metadata, enable new consumer features, and automate complex media workflows. As Product Manager, you will own a subset of the AI/ML-based self-service tools that help business users accomplish their work. Your objective is to build capabilities that deliver practical business value leveraging a combination of ML-based and librarian-generated data. You will work in a team of other product managers that share ownership of the data platforms product roadmap, ensure that we are meeting business needs, expand our user base, and build out new features and capabilities.

Your responsibilities include gathering & prioritizing business requirements and translating that into product specifications. Working in a cross-functional team environment with design, engineering, infrastructure, and QA (Quality Assurance), you will help reimagine the product for the future business of The Walt Disney Company, with focus in maximizing automation, driving operational improvements, and supporting the acceleration of our Direct-to-Consumer business.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Own product management for distinct Product/Platform capabilities in the ML Platform domain
• Influences the product strategy/roadmap and communicates to business partners and senior leadership around initiatives
• Utilize modern product discovery methods to gain a deep understanding of the problem space and develop solutions leveraging those insights
• Establish and evangelize product strategies that align with the mission of our organization, create value for the business, and delight users
• Collaborate with business partners and cross-functional teams to identify and clearly define business requirements
• Align business partners and cross-functional teams on product vision and strategy
• Elicit, analyze, document, and organize platform requirements into a clear, concise, and actionable product backlog that delivers prioritized incremental business value throughout its lifecycle.
• Partner and coordinate with peer Product Managers, Architecture, Engineering, QA, and Program Management to deliver strategic technical solutions.
• Support User Acceptance Testing, defining and executing product release strategies with end users, technology leads, and fellow product managers.
• Solve complex problems, taking a broad perspective to identify innovative solutions.
• Exhibit natural and intuitive user empathy
• Make thoughtful, well documented assumptions
• Assist in process alignment and standardization
• Define and align Product Roadmaps, clearly communicating the connection between vision, strategy, objectives, and roadmap
• Key participant of daily scrum meetings, planning, reviews, and retrospectives
• Lead Retrospectives, as needed
• Define User Acceptance Test (UAT) Scripts development
• Own User Acceptance Testing (UAT), working in collaboration with Operations & Change Management
• Coordinate major product releases
• Own system processes, user guides, and training materials on product features where needed
• Collaborate, partner and coordinate with cross-functional teams (engineering, design, QA, and product leadership) to streamline product features and enhance business processes
• Partner with engineering and program managers to implement solutions aligned with the product strategy and Content Platforms strategic objectives
• Mentor junior product managers

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience or military service
• 7+ years' related experience
• Extensive experience building and launching products that meet business needs and delight customers
• Extensive experience collaborating effectively across multiple business areas, such as engineering, design, and marketing
• Demonstrated ability to offer creative, quality solutions to complex issues in the digital space
• Demonstrated ability to drive successful execution through collaboration and product evangelization
• Ability to formulate and communicate a compelling vision and motivate collaborators
• Deep understanding of how to leverage technology to create innovative solutions

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in media & entertainment industry
• Understanding of ontologies, hierarchies, and data structures
• Enthusiasm and interests in Disney brands
• Understanding of media production workflows, digital video workflows, or consumer-facing video product features

The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA is $159,500 to $213,900 per year and in Bristol, CT is $152,200 to $204,100 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.