Mgr-Attractions Operational Technology

Disney Parks Experiences and Products is a world-class entertainment and technology leader. Walt's passion was to innovate continuously and push the boundaries of what is possible, a passion that remains central in our business today. Uniting each endeavor with a dedication to crafting and delivering unforgettable experiences, and we're constantly looking for new ways to improve these exciting experiences for our guests. We have an opportunity for a "hands-on," data-driven Manager that enjoys the challenges of collaborating to get results that are pivotal to our Disney Parks. The team is responsible for developing and sustaining technology, software, and data systems behind our state-of-the-art parks, attractions, textiles, transportation, and more in US and International parks. This is a unique manager role with the Global Engineering and Technology organization, a segment-wide level team that works on attractions and guest experiences worldwide. Initially, there will be 3 teams that run attractions data analytics/operations, attractions computer systems, and software engineering. This manager role will report directly to the Director of Engineering Technology and Analysis (ET&A) and will be a peer to the Manger of Modeling, Simulation, and Training, and the Manager of Show Systems, Audio/Video, and Resort Wide systems.

• Define and develop the strategic vision for all teams including Software Engineering, DataOps, and Attraction Systems.
• Mentors team leads, project managers, and individual contributors regarding all aspects of the product/project life cycle and management discipline.
• Acts as a liaison between business users and the implementation team, communicating appropriately and effectively with co-workers, customers, and supervisors, maintaining awareness of the status and any potential delay, situation, or concern that may affect the outcomes.
• Conducts meetings at leadership and executive director levels.
• Develops and leads a change control process as needed to ensure the teams operate within the scope of the change approval process.
• Continually reviews available resources to maintain first-hand knowledge of where resources can be best allocated. Reevaluates current resources to determine resource surplus and shortfalls.
• Supervise the technical enablement for the acquisition, flow, and landing of data.
• Build and maintain good relationships with partners throughout the Disney Company, such as Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Ride and Show Studios, Global Engineering and Technology (GE&T) mechanical, Sustaining Engineering Teams, Entertainment, Character Programs, and Development, Operations, Disney Cruise Lines, and Transportation Systems.
• Run the continual development and implementation of Disney's ADAQ, RCX, and SDA environments.
• Build Data Analytics solutions and value propositions for those solutions in alignment with organizational strategy.
• Plan, evaluate, and implement key components of the overall Data Intelligence Platform.
• Coordinate with legal for vendor agreements.
• Work with vendors on collaborative projects and service contracts.
• Develop new business opportunities that align with ET&A's mission and technical advancement. Foster the growth of these businesses by organizing and communicating across different business units.
• Connect with peer leads and management to understand resource levels and project priorities across the team.
• Forecast resource needs by communicating with partners and planning for future scope, supervising budgets and spending, verifying planning assumptions, and gathering support from leadership.
• Resolve resource priority conflicts between project teams and customers.
• Handle conflict resolution within the team and with customers or key partners.
• Handle external vendor scopes of work, including mechanical, systems, or software work.

• 10+ years of relevant engineering experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing diverse teams and sophisticated projects.
• Knowledge of software development lifecycle.
• Knowledge of project management.
• Ability to confidently employ an agile development methodology.
• Proficiency with management tools and software packages.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others including WDI, Engineering Services, Sustaining Engineering, Information Technology departments, and operational customers and departments.
• Ability to elicit collaboration from senior management and other departments.
• Ability to lead sophisticated systems-level efforts while sustaining existing assets.
• Ability to mentor and guide less experienced team members.
• Ability to manage resources and budgets for the department portfolio.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbally, to build lasting relationships with team members, customers, and partners.
• Proven ability to manage priorities and time allocation for oneself.
• Proven ability to resolve challenges and demonstrate professionalism.

• Experience with all facets of software/hardware development in the design of Ride and Show Control Systems.
• Experience with Data Analytics Design Process.
• Experience with the new attraction project cycles and critical milestones for Disney attractions.
• Experience with fieldwork, including authoring test procedures, installation, testing, and communication strategy.
• Experience with collaboration tools, including Confluence, Slack, JIRA, and Microsoft Teams.
• Experience with version control repository managers, such as Gitlab, SVN, etc.
• Experience with coding or scripting using C, C#, JavaScript, or Python.
• Knowledge of Disney engineering software design, requirements standards, and practices.

• ABET-accredited Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineer, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent.
• ABET-accredited Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineer, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent is highly preferred.