Senior Manager, Network Product Architecture, Engineering & Operations

Department Description:

At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company is a world-class entertainment and technological leader. Walt’s passion was to continuously envision new ways to move audiences around the world—a passion that remains our touchstone in an enterprise that stretches from theme parks, resorts and a cruise line to sports, news, movies and a variety of other businesses. Uniting each endeavor is a commitment to creating and delivering unforgettable experiences — and we’re constantly looking for new ways to enhance these exciting experiences.

The Enterprise Technology mission is to deliver technology solutions that align to business strategies while enabling enterprise efficiency and promoting cross-company collaborative innovation. Our group drives competitive advantage by enhancing our consumer experiences, enabling business growth, and advancing operational excellence.

Team Description:

The Team provides architectures and designs while facilitating deployments and operational support.  The outcomes of the team are considered network product offerings, specially built for the unique workflows of streaming, film-making, TV production, broadcast, post-production and other media businesses.

What You’ll Do:

Reporting to the Director, Network Architecture, Engineering, & Operations within Global Network Engineering & Operations (GNEO), the Senior Manager, Network Architecture, Engineering & Operations focuses on deploying excellent network products for media business stakeholders at The Walt Disney Company. 

The Senior Manager role combines deep technical expertise with product-oriented thinking, ensuring the services meet the needs of internal customers, scale efficiently, and deliver measurable business value.

• Lead high-performing teams of Managers, Senior Engineers, and Architects, providing hands-on leadership and product vision across network platforms that are critical for Disney’s media, broadcast, studio, and production operations.

• Full end-to-end product ownership for network platforms—including defining the long-term product vision, developing and prioritizing product roadmaps, and ensuring successful execution from strategy through deployment, operations, and ongoing improvement.

• Collaborate closely with Studio, Media Engineering, TV Production, ESPN, ABC, OTV, NatGeo, Product, Security, and Operations teams to ensure network product strategy aligns to Disney content workflows, user needs, and enterprise initiatives.

• Establish and own the Product Lifecycle for network platforms, taking responsibility for ideation, requirements gathering, architecture, delivery, operational excellence, customer feedback loops, and product retirement.

• Develop and monitor: clear platform SLAs, KPIs, and business outcomes to measure product success and ensure transparency with stakeholders; lead regular reviews to adjust strategy and tactics for optimal value.

• Foster continuous improvement, innovation, and deliver compelling user and business experiences.

• Provide architectural leadership for the design, deployment, and evolution of scalable, reusable, and resilient network solutions spanning on-premises, hybrid, cloud, and edge environments.

• Advance the use of NetDevOps, automation, and AI/ML to streamline operations, enhance product capabilities, and drive efficiency and reliability at scale, leveraging modern toolsets such as Python, Ansible, Terraform, Git, APIs, and CI/CD.

• Oversee and influence technology vendors and partners, ensuring alignment with product roadmaps, negotiating contracts and renewals, and driving continuous improvement in capabilities and support.

• Own and manage financial performance of network products, including budget development, forecasting, procurement, and investment planning to ensure resource alignment with strategic priorities.

• Ensure network platform security and compliance, embedding robust requirements and controls throughout the product lifecycle, especially for complex and high-stakes creative environments.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• Minimum 10+ years of progressive experience in network engineering, including deep expertise in modern network operations, automation, and platform‑based service delivery.

• 5+ years of experience leading high‑performing engineering teams, including management of managers and senior engineers in complex, mission‑critical, and 24×7 operational environments.

• Demonstrated ability to provide architectural ownership and influence for large‑scale network platforms, shaping designs, standards, and patterns across teams and business units.

• Strong understanding of media, studio, broadcast, streaming, and production technologies, including live production, post‑production workflows, contribution and distribution networks, and latency‑sensitive systems.

• Hands‑on experience designing and operating broadcast‑grade, high‑availability, low‑latency networks where uptime, determinism, and rapid recovery are critical to on‑air and production success.

• Demonstrated ability to operate under production and broadcast deadlines, balancing innovation with operational stability and reliability.

• Hands‑on experience with NetDevOps and infrastructure‑as‑code practices, including tools such as Python, Ansible, Terraform, Git, CI/CD pipelines, and network APIs.

• Experience applying automation, analytics, and AI/ML techniques to network operations, including performance optimization, anomaly detection, predictive capacity planning, and intelligent remediation.

• Strong understanding of how AI‑driven operations and observability can improve reliability, efficiency, and decision‑making in complex network environments.

• Proven ability to translate creative, editorial, and business requirements into scalable, resilient network capabilities that directly support studio, production, and broadcast workflows.

• Experience designing and operating hybrid on‑premises, cloud, and edge network environments supporting global media production and content distribution.

• Proven ability to manage technology vendors and partners, influencing roadmaps to align with evolving production, studio, and broadcast requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certifications (JNCIA-Junos, JNCIA-MistAI, JNCIA-SEC, ACE-A, PCCSA, PCNSA, PCNSE, CCNA, CCNP, BIG-IP, DDI Professional)

• Past experience with live event, post-production, creative, broadcast, or VFX environments

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Network Engineering, Electrical Engineering or or related field of study, and/or equivalent work experience.

• Preferred: Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline

#DISNEYTECH

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The hiring range for this position in Burbank, CA is $188,400 - $252,600 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.