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:

1. 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.

2. 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. 

3. 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.

Job Summary:

The Content Platforms & Operations team is seeking a Lead Product Manager to join the Content Intelligence group and drive the next evolution of Disney's media supply chain. In this role, you will help define and create AI-assisted products and workflows that intelligently analyze, enrich, and transform our massive catalog of global content. Bridging between business stakeholders, data science and engineering, you will guide cross-functional teams and partner with key stakeholders to deliver high-impact, scalable solutions within the media supply chain that brings Disney’s legendary storytelling to global audiences.

You will be working at the forefront of emerging technology, collaborating across global teams to blend the possible with the practical, maintaining a “dual horizon” view of delivering near-term business value in a timely fashion whilst steering the product towards longer term strategic goals.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

Product Strategy & Portfolio Ownership:

• Own the end-to-end product lifecycle for a collection of key products within the Content Intelligence portfolio.
• Drive the long-term vision and roadmap (not just execution) based on refined product intuition and a deep understanding of business goals.
• Influence the broader portfolio strategy and effectively communicate your vision and product narrative to senior leadership and cross-functional business stakeholders.

Discovery & Requirement Translation:

• Conduct deep-dive workflow and process analyses to evaluate complex operational needs.
• Distinguish immediate stakeholder requests from underlying business needs, translating them into clear, concise, and balanced product specifications that leverage emerging technology solutions.

Cross-Functional Delivery, Mentorship & Process Optimization:

• Partner closely with Engineering, QA, and Program Management/Scrum Masters, and peer product teams to drive execution within an Agile framework.
• Facilitate product reviews, draft precise user stories/acceptance criteria, and collaborate to ensure high-quality, on-time releases.  
• Act as a leader within your squad, providing coaching and informal mentorship to peer or junior Product Managers.
• Continuously improve internal and cross-team processes to optimize delivery and raise the organization's overall ability to ship

Cross-Portfolio Alignment & Governance:

• Establish trusted, influential relationships with internal stakeholders and peer platform teams across production and distribution.
• Use data storytelling and negotiation to align cross-team priorities.
• Collaborate across organizational boundaries to deliver complex, multi-team capital initiatives, and ensure Disney’s broader strategic priorities are met.

Product Success, Technical Depth & Change Management:

• Define, track, and measure the impact of your products using meaningful OKRs and KPIs to drive strategic business value.
• Proactively research and propose new feature ideas, solutions, and proof of concepts that continuously push boundaries.
• Develop a deep understanding of the underlying technologies, architectures, and data flows powering your applications to effectively collaborate with engineering and data science on technical constraints and solutions.
• Partner directly with business units and internal client groups to ensure seamless user adoption into daily production and operational workflows.

Basic requirements:

• 7+ years of experience in product management, with a proven track record of managing complex platform products, enterprise systems, or digital workflows.
• Orchestration of Multi-Team Execution: Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams (Engineering, QA, UX Design, Program Management) to deliver high-quality, scalable product releases under tight deadlines.
• Technical Fluency & Product Acumen: Strong technical baseline with an understanding of backend architectures, APIs, data flows, and modern development frameworks.
• Strategic Requirement Translation: Exceptional ability to conduct workflow analyses, translate highly ambiguous business needs into clear product specifications/user stories, and prioritize backlogs based on business value (ROI).
• Storytelling & Stakeholder Alignment: Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with a proven ability to "storytell with data," negotiate alignment among disparate stakeholders, and influence cross-team priorities.
• Data-Driven Mindset: Experience setting, tracking, and measuring product success through KPIs and OKRs, using quantitative and qualitative data to drive roadmap decisions.
• Leadership & Coaching: Demonstrated ability to act as a squad leader, with experience providing informal guidance, coaching, or mentorship to junior Product Managers or cross-functional team members.
• Agile Framework Expertise: Practical experience working within Agile/Scrum environments, including backlog refinement, sprint planning, and utilizing tools like Jira and Confluence.
• Adaptability: High degree of autonomy with the proven ability to pivot quickly and effectively as business strategies and product priorities shift.

Preferred Qualifications:

You don’t need to meet all of these, but it would be advantageous to meet one or more:

• Media & Supply Chain Expertise: Understanding of the media and entertainment industry, specifically regarding media supply chains, digital video pipelines, post-production, or television workflows.
• AI & Machine Learning Exposure: Experience with (or strong conceptual knowledge of) AI tooling, machine learning models, computer vision, natural language processing, or automated quality control (QC) and localization systems.
• Passion for Storytelling: A strong interest in, and enthusiasm for, Disney brands and the evolution of content experiences.

Required Education

• Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent practical experience.

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles is $155,700 to $208,700 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.