Manager, Data Technology - Personalization & Guest Identity
Disney Parks & Resorts
Job Summary:
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are where dreams come true. More than sixty years ago, Walt Disney created a new kind of entertainment families could experience together, immersed in detailed atmospheres and vibrant storytelling. His vision now includes a collection of six of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.; Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan; Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, France; Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, located on Lantau Island; and Shanghai Disney Resort, Pudong New District, Shanghai, China. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts includes the world-class Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club; Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa; Adventures by Disney, a guided group vacation experience to some of the world’s most popular destinations; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions.
“It takes people to make the dream a reality.” Walt was onto something when he said that, and it continues to ring true today. Disney Parks Experience & Products (DPEP) Technology is an electrifying place to utilize your skills, experience, and leadership abilities. This is the place where you get to create “Surprise and Delight” experiences for our guests as well take our operational efficiency to its unrealized potential by using data and cutting-edge tools. As the Manager in the Information Advantage organization you will lead technology and business teams to deliver solutions covering various Lines of Business within Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
Responsibilities:
You will be at the forefront of driving critical projects through multiple milestones and will be:
- Partnering with technology teams, Sourcing & Procurement, and Legal to negotiate and develop agreements with vendor providers and partners to ensure successful and cost-effective delivery of solutions within scope, on time, and on budget
- Enabling highly visible interactions with executives on the technology and business sides of the organization to facilitate alignment
- Managing a flexible workforce of both cast and consultants to meet project demands and financial targets
- Leading efforts to identify and implement different delivery models to increase our delivery throughput, leveraging 3rd party and external services as appropriate
- Driving technical decisions to ensure optimal architectural solutions and delivery of capabilities and managing project work of employees across various companies to deliver project scope
- Resolving issues with delivery roadblocks efficiently to minimize impact to project budget and timelines
- Responsible for financial health of the project by closely tracking forecast and actuals for resources, infrastructure, and tools
- Working with engineering and business stakeholders on ensuring a clear plan and costs for on-going sustainment
- Partner with Business and Finance teams to create project documentation required for funding process and maintain project schedule, scope, change requests, issues & risks lists
- Managing executive and business stakeholder expectations while coordinating/communicating/integrating project progress into greater program goals and sequencing
- Provide direction and guidance to Project Managers assigned to long term projects, as well be responsible for input on overall performance of project management personnel
Basic Qualifications:
- 5+ years technology leadership experience in a data/analytics team
- Success in delivering complex data and analytics projects on-budget and on-time
- Solid experience as a leader and a coach, with ability to build and organize teams
- Proven track record of engineering mentorship through new and familiar technologies and approaches, career pathing individuals to a variety of roles and levels
- Demonstrated ability to think strategically, and partner with business and technology teams to define technical roadmaps and decisions
- Ability to be a persuasive negotiator and influencer
- Experience in effectively managing budgets and resources
- Experience with Cloud technologies: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
- Solid understanding of open source data management components and services including Hadoop, Nifi, Spark, Flume, Kafka and Hive
- Proficiency in SQL, Python/Java
- Experience with at least one visualization tool: Tableau, PowerBI, or similar
- Proven experience in vendor package selection process, negotiations, and contract generation and execution
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
Preferred Qualifications:
- Passion for learning new technologies and sharing that passion and awareness with your team
- Ability to guide teams through time of ambiguity and conflict
- Experience running projects in Enterprise Agile mode: Scrum and KanBan
- Full SDLC experience
- Understanding of WDP&R’s technical infrastructure and server environments
- Innovation mindset, driving cultural change with the creative use of data and technology
Required Education
- B.S. degree in Computer Science or other Technology related field or work experience
About Parks, Experiences and Products:
The Parks, Experiences and Products segment includes Disney’s iconic travel and leisure businesses, which include six resort destinations in the United States, Europe and Asia, a top-rated cruise line, a popular vacation ownership program, and an award-winning guided family adventure business. Disney’s global consumer products operations include the world’s leading licensing business across toys, apparel, home goods, digital games and apps; the world’s largest children’s publisher; Disney store locations around the world; and the shopDisney e-commerce platform.
About The Walt Disney Company:
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with the following business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.
This position is with Walt Disney Attractions Technology LLC, which is part of a business segment we call Parks, Experiences and Products.
Walt Disney Attractions Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.
Full Time