Senior Principal Commercialization Manager, Ad Platforms

Job Requirements
Technology is at the heart of Disney's past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more - all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney's media business globally.
The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company's media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.
Here are a few reasons why we think you'd love working here:
* Building the future of Disney's media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
* Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney's technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company's brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands - and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry - matter to millions of people globally.
* Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.
Job Summary
The Commercialization team within Disney's Ad Platform sits at the intersection of product engineering, data science, and go-to-market strategy. As a Sr Principal Product Commercialization Manager, you will serve as the technical authority on Disney's advertising technology stack — translating deep expertise in programmatic infrastructure, AI-powered ad products, identity resolution, measurement science, and auction mechanics into market-facing strategy that drives advertiser adoption and competitive differentiation. This includes both Disney's programmatic platform and its emerging portfolio of AI products: agentic ad buying systems that optimize campaigns autonomously, and generative AI tools for dynamic creative production at scale.
This is not a communications or content role. It requires the same technical literacy as a senior product manager: the ability to read a technical specification, participate meaningfully in engineering sprint reviews, evaluate ad tech vendor integrations (DSPs, SSPs, CDPs, clean rooms), assess build-vs-buy decisions on infrastructure, evaluate AI/ML model architecture and inference tradeoffs, and define product requirements informed by buyer technical constraints. The output is market-facing, but the qualification bar is firmly technical.
You will be a primary bridge between Ad Platform Engineering and the market — shaping how Disney's advertising technology is understood, valued, and adopted by advertisers, agencies, and industry analysts. You will also serve as a key input into the product roadmap, bringing structured buyer intelligence and technical gap analysis back into the product development cycle.
Responsibilities
As the subject matter expert, you will solve unique and complex problems with broad impact on the business, leading projects of strategic importance across product, engineering, and go-to-market functions. Key responsibilities include:
Technical Product Positioning & Market Strategy
* Develop and own the master positioning framework for core Ad Platform product areas — spanning both the programmatic infrastructure (OpenRTB standards, SSAI, audience segmentation, identity resolution, cross-screen measurement) and the emerging AI product portfolio (agentic ad buying, AI-powered campaign optimization, and generative creative production).
* Partner with Product Management and Engineering leadership to define Disney's technical differentiation across both programmatic and AI product lines — evaluating competitive ad tech and AI model architectures, and translating technical advantages into compelling, evidence-backed market narratives.
* Serve as the internal authority on competitive intelligence — tracking shifts in programmatic infrastructure (DSP/SSP integrations, identity graph approaches, clean room adoption) and AI-driven advertising capabilities (agentic buying platforms, generative creative tools, LLM-powered targeting and optimization) across key competitors.
* Commission and synthesize market research, win/loss analysis, and buyer technical requirement studies to identify unmet needs — feeding structured insights directly into product roadmap prioritization alongside Engineering and Product Management.
Product-Engineering Partnership & Technical Input
* Participate actively in product and engineering planning cycles — contributing buyer technical constraints, integration requirements, and market signal as direct inputs to feature scoping, acceptance criteria, and roadmap prioritization.
* Translate buyer integration requirements (e.g., DSP API compatibility, audience data onboarding, attribution methodology support) into structured product requirements for Engineering review.
* Evaluate ad tech industry standards (e.g., IAB Tech Lab frameworks, OpenRTB extensions, seller-defined audiences, Privacy Sandbox APIs) and AI model governance considerations, providing technical recommendations on which standards Disney should adopt, build toward, or influence.
* Assess AI product capabilities in partnership with Engineering and Data Science — understanding model architecture decisions (e.g., reinforcement learning for bid optimization, diffusion models for creative generation, LLM-based campaign planning agents) well enough to evaluate competitive positioning and define market-facing capability claims with technical accuracy.
* Establish a structured technical feedback loop between the field (sales, buyers, agency trading desks) and engineering — surfacing integration blockers, API limitations, AI workflow adoption barriers, and measurement gaps as prioritized, evidence-backed input to product development.
Go-to-Market Execution
* Partner with Product Management to translate technical capabilities into differentiated, market-facing value propositions — including technical collateral (architecture overviews, integration guides, measurement methodology documentation) that enables sophisticated buyer conversations.
* Collaborate with sales GTM teams to develop and execute launch strategies for new ad platform products and features, including launch tiers, market segmentation, technical readiness criteria, and post-launch measurement.
* Define and track shared GTM success metrics — including product adoption, pipeline influence, and technical integration rates — using data to continuously refine market strategy.
Field Readiness & Technical Enablement
* Develop the field readiness approach for assigned product areas, equipping sales teams with technically accurate messaging, integration documentation, product demos, and objection-handling frameworks for complex buyer environments.
* Establish a consistent field feedback loop to surface buyer technical objections, competitive integration pressures, and gaps in current platform capabilities — translating findings into actionable engineering input and positioning improvements.
Cross-functional Leadership
* Partner with Ad Product, Research, Measurement Science, and Engineering teams to align in-market narratives with technical reality and ensure consistent articulation of Disney's advertising technology capabilities across all customer touchpoints.
* Represent Disney's Ad Platform as a technical authority at industry events, analyst briefings (e.g., Forrester, Gartner, MoffettNathanson), and standards body engagements (e.g., IAB Tech Lab) to shape category narratives in Streaming TV advertising.
* Serve as a senior mentor and standard-setter across the PM organization — mentoring Principal and Senior PMs, defining the technical rigor bar for positioning and go-to-market work, and shaping how the broader PM function evaluates and represents technical products.
* Advise senior product, engineering, and business leadership — including VP and EVP stakeholders — on where the advertising technology and AI market is headed, directly shaping investment priorities and strategic bets for the Ad Platform portfolio.
Required Qualifications
* 12+ years of product marketing experience in B2B technology products, with demonstrated ownership of positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy across a multi-product portfolio, and a track record operating as a recognized technical authority and executive advisor, not solely an individual product contributor
* Bachelor's degree in a technical or quantitative field (Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, Statistics) or equivalent practical experience in an ad tech product or engineering environment
* Deep technical fluency across both the programmatic advertising stack (OpenRTB auction mechanics, DSPs/SSPs, identity resolution, data clean rooms, cross-screen attribution modeling) and AI-powered advertising products (agentic campaign management, AI/ML-driven optimization, generative creative systems)
* Proven ability to participate as a technical contributor in product and engineering planning — reading technical specifications, evaluating integration requirements, and translating buyer technical constraints into structured product input
* Proven track record of leading successful product launches from strategy through post-launch measurement, including technical readiness criteria and field enablement
* Experience influencing product roadmap and engineering prioritization using structured market evidence, buyer technical requirements, and competitive technical analysis
* Ability to conduct or commission market research, win/loss analysis, and competitive technical assessments to inform product and technology strategy
* Strong executive communication skills with experience presenting technical strategy and market recommendations to senior engineering and business leadership
Preferred Qualifications
* MBA or Master's degree in a technical or business field
* Hands-on experience with programmatic ad tech infrastructure: buying platforms, server-side ad insertion (SSAI), audience data onboarding, measurement and attribution systems, or CTV ad delivery
* Experience working on or marketing AI-powered advertising products — including agentic buying systems, AI campaign optimization, or generative creative tools — with working knowledge of the underlying ML concepts (reinforcement learning, generative models, LLM-based agents)
* Familiarity with IAB Tech Lab standards, Privacy Sandbox APIs, seller-defined audience frameworks, or emerging AI/automation standards in digital advertising
* Experience in connected TV, streaming media, or addressable television advertising
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Disclaimer
PAY TRANSPARENCY
The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, CA and in Glendale, CA is $210,500 - $282,300 per year and in San Francisco, CA is $230,600 - $309,300 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.
This position is with Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.
To learn more about Disney's guidelines on the use of AI for candidates, click here. ( Entertainment & Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.
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