Programmatic Operations Manager

About the Team
Disney Advertising: 
The Disney Advertising portfolio covers world leading brands within The Walt Disney Company's entertainment segment and related film, television, and streaming businesses.  This includes family favorites Disney, Pixar, Marvel, & Lucasfilm, general entertainment networks like ABC, Hulu, ESPN, National Geographic, and our flagship streaming product, Disney+.  

Within the Disney Advertising EMEA organization, the Business Operations team serves as the core regional sales support group, ensuring strategic alignment and operational efficiency across the region. Key functions include media planning & campaign management (Client Services), ad tech & vendor oversight (Specialized Operations) and forecasting & reporting (Revenue & Yield Management). These teams define policies, build processes, enable capabilities, and manage daily workflows that support Sales success.  

Job Summary: 

The Programmatic Operations Manager will play a pivotal role within the London-based EMEA Ad Sales organization, supporting our increasingly automated and addressable streaming video business.  Collaborating closely with Sales, Operations, Technology, & Legal teams, the role’s primary objective will be to drive revenue growth by triaging programmatic issues and escalations, enhancing operational workflows, and deepening relationships with our ad tech partners.    

The work broadly covers two key areas of responsibility: 1) programmatic escalation support to enable efficient campaign delivery and 2) ad tech partner management to maintain and enhance relationships and capabilities.  In the former, the role will act as the first point of contact for escalations, troubleshooting programmatic issues whilst providing subject matter expertise to both internal and external contacts.  In the latter, the role is expected to build and maintain strong relationships with external ad tech partners and Disney’s internal Ad Platforms team, improving our capabilities and processes.  Success is defined as automated and addressable revenue growth in our streaming video business, underpinned by scalable, sustainable support mechanisms.  

The candidate will bring deep expertise in the ad tech ecosystem and a strong understanding of the wider advertising and media industry.  As a skilled relationship manager, they will also confidently represent Disney Advertising to external partners and collaborate effectively across internal cross-functional teams.  The ideal candidate will be comfortable working independently on complex technical challenges and engaging at a senior level, presenting to leaders or helping to negotiate legal and commercial terms.  

A strong commitment to user experience and compliance is essential, including familiarity with GDPR, consent management platforms, and evolving privacy standards.  The candidate will also stay ahead of industry trends, particularly the convergence of digital and linear advertising, positioning Disney at the forefront of the streaming video space.  

This is an office-based role. 4 days working in the Hammersmith, London office with 1 day working from home (Monday or Friday). 

The Opportunity & Responsibilities: 

• Provide frontline support to EMEA campaign management teams for issue intake and troubleshooting of both managed service campaigns and programmatic deals 

• Diagnose and resolve ad delivery, ad quality, and technical issues, liaising with global Ad Platforms Technology teams as needed  

• Manage and maintain relationships with ad tech vendors in EMEA, releasing new capabilities, improving operational efficiency, and driving revenue growth  

• Represent Ad Sales in compliance discussions with Legal & Privacy  

• Contribute to the development of data-driven technologies and both first and third-party audience targeting/measurement solutions����������� 

• Build and nurture relationships with key internal stakeholders across regions and business lines  

• Collaborate with global teams and act as a regional center of programmatic advertising excellence for other EMEA offices, providing training and documentation for Sales and Operational personnel   

• Maintain a comprehensive understanding of Disney’s ad tech stack and industry developments  

The Experience We Require From You:  

• Graduate level or equivalent experience 

• Proven 5+yrs experience in the advertising sector, either publisher/agency side or in ad tech, focusing on sales, operations, technology, and strategy  

• Strong technical knowledge of VAST & ORTB protocols, the wider digital media landscape, programmatic platforms and revenue models  

• Experience of managing relationships with contacts at DSP’s, SSP’s, and other ad tech vendors  

• Hands-on experience with order management systems, ad-servers, and programmatic platforms  

• Ability to extract actionable insights and develop data-driven business plans  

• Experience navigating data privacy regulations (GDPR and others)  

• Proven success managing global stakeholders and collaborating to manage/deliver complex projects  

• Comfortable representing company externally  

• Strong network of contacts within ad sales, technology, and operations industries  

• Media or entertainment brand experience is a beneficial, as is familiarity with processes and policies of a multinational corporation.  

Required Skills: 

• Highly motivated and driven problem solver with investigative tendencies.  

• Great attention to detail, organizational skills, and ability to effectively prioritize and balance multiple projects   

• Analytical; ability to review, assess, and strategize based on the results  

• Able to step back and look at scenarios at a macro level, solving the immediate challenge and providing long-term solutions  

• Expert on defining/evolving processes and empowering operational teams for success  

• Natural relationship manager, understanding how to balance the company’s needs with that of a partner  

• Motivated to lead by example and hold others accountable to high standards   

• Comfortable working independently or collaboratively with peers and senior executives  

• Revenue-minded, but not at the expense of our people, our guests, or the user experience  

• Excellent communicator with good presentation skills, able to speak on behalf of the business  

• Ability to navigate the digital advertising industry and maintain relationships with publishers, broadcasters, agencies, advertisers, and tech vendors  

• In-depth understanding of digital media and the advertising industry, particularly video and within EMEA  

• IT savvy across core business applications and collaboration tools (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, etc.)  

The Perks  

• 25 days annual leave 

• Private medical insurance & dental care 

• Complimentary Park Entry: You will have the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free 

• Disney Discounts: you are entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing 

• Excellent parental and guardian leave 

• Employee Resource Groups – WOMEN @ Disney, Disney DIVERSITY, Disney PRIDE, ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.