Senior Manager, Network Product Engineering & Operations

Senior Manager, Network Product Engineering & Operations 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 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 Reporting to the Director of Network Engineering & Operations within Global Network Engineering & Operations (GNEO), this role sits at the intersection of cutting‑edge technology and world‑class storytelling at The Walt Disney Company. As Senior Manager, you will lead the engineering and delivery of high‑performance network solutions that power some of the most dynamic media workflows in the world—from live broadcast, streaming platforms, and film production to broadcast and post‑production environments. Your team is responsible for designing, architecting, deploying, and operating network services that function as critical “products,” purpose‑built to support the unique demands of Disney’s global media businesses. This role goes beyond traditional network operations. It blends deep technical expertise with a product mindset, ensuring that network services are scalable, resilient, and aligned with the evolving needs of internal stakeholders. You will play a key role in shaping solutions that not only meet technical requirements, but also drive measurable business value and enable creativity at scale. This position will be on‑site, primarily at 7 Hudson Square, New York, NY. What You’ll Do 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. Exercise 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. 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. Integrate deep domain and customer empathy, balancing creative, editorial, technical, and business requirements to create and evolve differentiated network products that drive value and competitive advantage for the organization. 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. Champion and drive the adoption of a product mindset within the organization, fostering continuous improvement, innovation, and delivering 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. 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. 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. Act as the senior technical escalation point for production incidents and service issues, maintaining operational excellence, minimizing downtime, and driving lessons learned directly into product enhancements and processes. Required Qualifications & Skills Minimum of 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 managing 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. Proven experience owning or co‑owning network platforms as products, including roadmap definition, prioritization, delivery, operations, and lifecycle management. 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. Strong experience partnering with Architecture, Media Engineering, Product, Security, and Operations teams to align platform delivery with long‑term strategy. Demonstrated ownership of budgets, forecasting, and multi‑year investment planning for network platforms and services. Proven ability to manage technology vendors and partners, influencing roadmaps to align with evolving production, studio, and broadcast requirements. Excellent communication and stakeholder‑management skills, with the ability to engage effectively with engineering, creative, and business leaders across organizations and time zones. Strong leadership presence, sound judgment, and the ability to make high‑impact technical and operational decisions in ambiguous, high‑pressure environments. Preferred Qualifications Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline. 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. Required Education Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Network Engineering, Electrical Engineering or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience. The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $197,400 to $264,700 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and 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 other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered. The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening or apply for a position, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. #J-18808-Ljbffr