Software Development Manager

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology 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. Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality engineering, and the engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity. Job Summary: The DEEP & Technology team is seeking a highly experienced Senior Manager (M3) to lead and scale our Quality Engineering organization supporting various commerce, data and advertising systems. In this role, you will provide strategic, operational, and technical leadership across multiple quality engineering teams, ensuring robust test automation, reliability, and business impact at scale. You will develop and execute a quality strategy that drives measurable improvement in system reliability, speed of delivery, and product excellence, partnering closely with executives, engineering leadership, and cross-functional business units. Ideal candidates are visionary people leaders with a proven track record of growing high-performing teams, implementing transformational quality programs, and delivering significant value in complex and rapidly evolving environments. Responsibilities: Organizational Leadership & Transformation Lead, inspire, and develop multiple quality engineering teams and people leaders (managers/technical leads), fostering a culture of technical excellence, inclusion, and continuous learning. Define the multi-year vision and strategic roadmap for quality engineering across the advertising platform, aligned with company business and technology goals. Champion organizational transformation, driving the adoption of best-in-class practices, tools, and quality metrics at scale. Technical Thought Leadership Set the technical direction for large-scale test automation architecture, cloud-native solutions, and intelligent testing initiatives (AI/ML-driven testing, autonomous pipelines, etc.). Sponsor and guide the evolution of shared automation frameworks, tools, and platforms across product and engineering teams. Ensure timely resolution and prevention of high-severity outages through organizational postmortems, root cause analysis, and systemic improvements. Strategic Planning & Execution Develop, communicate, and execute the quality engineering strategy across multiple product groups, balancing innovation, risk, and operational needs. Oversee resource planning, hiring, and organizational design to ensure scaling and allocation of quality engineering talent to meet evolving business needs. Take ultimate responsibility for quality governance, compliance, and traceability across all product lines within your scope. Cross-Functional & Executive Partnership Build and maintain strong working relationships with senior leadership in engineering, product management, data science, product operations, and business teams. Articulate quality risks, trade-offs, and long-term strategies to executive stakeholders; provide regular reporting on quality metrics and organizational outcomes. Lead cross-functional initiatives to ensure test automation and quality engineering are embedded early and effectively throughout the development lifecycle. Minimum Qualifications: 10+ years of experience in software quality engineering, test automation, or software development, with 5+ years managing managers or leading multi-team organizations Proven track record of scaling and transforming quality engineering functions in complex, cloud-native, high-scale environments Demonstrated experience defining and driving organizational strategy, advocating for quality at the senior/executive level, and influencing business outcomes Expertise in modern test automation frameworks, CI/CD, and emerging trends in software quality Knowledge of software engineering practices and agile approaches Strong desire for establishing and improving product quality Advanced proficiency with Python or modern OO languages; experience with ad-tech or large-scale systems is a plus Willingness to take challenges head on while being part of a team Strong communication, stakeholder management, and mentoring skills Bachelor's degree, preferably in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent experience) #disneytech The hiring range for this position in California is $171,600 - $230,100 per year and in New York is $179,700 - $241,000 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.