Project Manager (Project Hire)

At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) 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 DXT team is responsible for digital and physical Guest and Crew experiences for all technology and digital-led initiatives. 

As a Technical Program Manager, you will partner with Product Management and Engineering to translate business value into actionable plans and execute on the delivery of strategic initiatives in support of Emerging Technology & Product (ETP) priorities. This role requires technical understanding, attention to detail, a strong sense of accountability and ownership, collaboration, and experience managing across workstream teams. If you are someone who thrives in a collaborative environment, jumps at the opportunity to work on impactful and complex problems, and constantly seeks out new challenges, then this is a great role for you! 

This is an estimated 12-month Project Hire position with no guarantee of permanent placement.

What you will do:

Strategic Program & Project Leadership  

• Coordinate high-priority, multi-site strategic programs and cross-functional projects through the development of pilots, proofs of concept, and initial technical implementations, ensuring timely and on-budget delivery.  

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Software Engineers, Product Managers, and Leadership) to establish scalable processes that drive success and efficiency across program areas.  

• Partner with ETP leaders and stakeholders to align product and engineering efforts with program goals.  

Agile & Operational Excellence  

• Define, optimize, and manage Agile ceremonies and processes at the team-of-teams level.  

• Maintain accurate project documentation including scope, schedules, and budgets.  

Financial & Resource Management  

• Reconcile actuals, adjust forecasts, and communicate budget updates and billing changes to leadership.  

• Align resource capacity with project plans and collaborate with managers to balance workload and budget. 

Risk, Issue & Scope Management  

• Anticipate and mitigate risks; manage scope changes and assess impact on timelines and budgets.  

• Communicate risks, issues, and solutions transparently to stakeholders.  

Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting  

• Drive stakeholder coordination and ensure alignment on goals and timelines.  

• Own communication plans, manage expectations, and deliver weekly updates, dashboards, and executive presentations.  

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• 3-5 years of technical project/program management experience working with technical teams developing enterprise class solutions  

• Bachelor's Degree and/or equivalent relevant experience. 

• General understanding of technologist roles and responsibilities, capabilities & platform dependencies, software development lifecycle, engineering and/or product development  

• Influence and negotiation, communication, professional maturity & organizational savvy, relationship building, dependency mapping  

• Hands-on experience with practices such as Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid as well as extensive experience with pragmatic blending of styles to facilitate collaboration and delivery  

• Strong ability to interpret and navigate architectural and technical aspects of complex projects and familiarity with Agile technical practices

• Highly organized with exceptional time management and attention to detail  

• Proven experience managing large-scale budgets and financial oversight  

• Tools & Technologies:  

• Office Productivity: Microsoft Office Suite, Keynote, Smartsheet  

• Project Management: MyPPM (Clarity), MyJira  

Preferred Qualifications  

• Technical project management experience in Emerging Technology or a related field  

• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification  

• Agile Certifications i.e. CSM; ACP; CPO