Lead Counsel, DTC Product

About the Role:

The Lead Counsel, DTC Product is a senior attorney role supporting Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming products at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Reporting to the Assistant Chief Counsel, Disney DTC Product, this role will serve as a primary legal advisor to product, technology, design, business operations, and customer service teams on matters involving Disney’s streaming services, including SVOD and live products. The role requires a practical, business-minded attorney who can independently assess legal and regulatory risk, translate complex technical and legal concepts into clear guidance, and help enable innovative product experiences consistent with Disney’s legal, ethical, and brand standards.

Responsibilities:

This role provides practical, business-focused legal guidance on DTC product and technology initiatives, with a focus on enabling innovation while identifying, assessing, and mitigating legal risk.

• Provide day-to-day legal counseling to product, technology, business operations, and customer service teams on issues related to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN, including in-app experience, commerce functionality, consumer messaging, back-end architecture, regulatory and policy considerations.

• Serve as primary legal advisory on product launches, feature development, partner integrations, and operational initiatives by identifying legal issues early, assessing risk, and recommending practical paths forward.

• Independently advise on matters of increasing complexity and significance, while escalating highly sensitive, high-risk, or broad-impact issues to the Assistant Chief Counsel.

• Advise on and review technology, product, and commercial arrangements supporting DTC products.

• Partner with legal and business subject matter experts across The Walt Disney Company, including privacy, distribution, government affairs, litigation, intellectual property, product, and technology teams, to provide coordinated and consistent guidance.

• Synthesize contractual and consumer legal requirements to provide product and technology teams with applicable legal requirements and constraints.

• Translate complex technical concepts and product strategy into clear legal advice for business stakeholders.

• Support litigation risk assessment, dispute strategy, regulatory inquiries, and incident response.

• Maintain trusted relationships with senior business partners and serve as a resource to colleagues and less experienced legal professionals on product and technology issues.

• Work proactively and independently under tight timeframes while upholding Disney’s standards of professionalism, collaboration, ethics, and integrity.

Required Qualifications:

• Significant relevant experience as a practicing attorney providing product, technology, digital media, streaming, or direct-to-consumer legal counseling.

• Demonstrated ability to independently advise on complex product, technology, regulatory, and operational issues in a fast-paced environment.

• Strong analytical capabilities and judgment, with the ability to assess risk, balance competing considerations, and develop practical, business-focused solutions.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organization skills.

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and communicate legal requirements clearly to product and engineering teams.

• Proven ability to manage multiple high-priority matters under tight timeframes with limited supervision.

• Collaborative, solutions-oriented approach with the ability to build trusted relationships with stakeholders at all levels, including senior business leaders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior in-house experience at an entertainment, media, technology, streaming, or direct-to-consumer company.

• Experience advising on consumer-facing digital products, subscription services, app experience, product compliance, or partner integrations.

• Experience with litigation risk advisory work, regulatory inquiries, or incident response.

• Technical background or demonstrated fluency working closely with engineering, product, compliance, and operations teams.

Required Education:

• J.D. degree or equivalent from an accredited law school.

• Admission to the California Bar in good standing, or willingness and qualification to be Registered/Authorized In-House Counsel.

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, CA is $212,000.00-$274,200.00 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.