VP, Production Technology & Operations - PSTS

VP Production Technology & Operations

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, operates globally across film and television production, acquisition, and distribution in more than 140 countries, spanning wholly owned labels, joint ventures, and third-party productions.

SPE's Production & Studio Technology Services (PSTS) Team services SPE's global Motion Pictures and Television Production Business. We operate an extensive catalog of technologies and services that span's the full creative pipeline – Creative Development, Physical Production, Post Production, VFX, Production Finance, Studio Operations, and other ancillary technologies that integrate downstream into Marketing and Distribution workflows.

The VP, Production Technology & Operations reports to the SVP, PSTS and is responsible for all PSTS-managed physical production, post-production, and VFX technologies. This role ensures productions are supported day-to-day while also driving long-term technology strategy focused on modernization, performance, and scalability.

This is a hands-on, front-line leadership role, not a back-office function. The VP partners closely with production executives and internal stakeholders to modernize SPE's production technology stack, influence change, and deliver results at an accelerated pace. A strong blend of production, technical, operational, and strategic leadership experience is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technology partner for MPG and TV Production leadership across physical production, post, VFX, and downstream partnering groups - marketing and distribution.
• Define and execute production technology strategy across pre-production, production, post, VFX, and delivery.
• Oversee on-set and near-set systems, dailies workflows, media asset management, editorial pipelines, and post infrastructure.
• Partner with internal teams, post facilities, and VFX vendors to manage secure handling and delivery of pre-release IP.
• Champion technology modernization to unlock competitive advantage and differentiation in the market.
• Influence executive stakeholders to foster a culture of innovation and new technology adoption.
• Lead the PSTS Production Operations team providing 24/7/365 global support for productions.
• Standardize service models, scale support appropriately, and ensure responsive, expert-level coverage across regions and production tiers.
• Act as executive escalation point for major production-impacting incidents.
• Implement IT service management best practices, KPIs, and reporting to demonstrate value and guide resourcing decisions.
• Coordinate closely with regional leads to service our International Production businesses, including individual Production Companies that reside in territory.
• Serve as a leadership liaison and technical SME for our International Production Companies looking to utilize, or mature their production, post, or VFX capabilities.
• Support production-related M&A technology integration and diversification efforts
• Evaluate and implement new technologies to improve production efficiency and cost control — including secure cloud workflows, remote collaboration tools, and new SaaS solutions
• Partner with LOB teams to identify ways to overhaul and modernize production workflows including budgeting, script management, scheduling, calendaring, previsualization, post visualization, MAM, file prep and delivery.
• In partnership with other SPE groups, operationalize the responsible and ethical adoption of generative AI (GAI) tools to support creative workflows, while adhering to SPE's internal governance, compliance and regulatory requirements.
• Foster strategic partnerships with technology vendors, startups, and production tool providers to maintain the studio's competitive edge.
• Help set long-term technology direction for the studio, anticipate industry trends, and drive innovation that positions the company as a market leader.
• Serve as a thought leader, influencing not only internal stakeholders but also the broader industry through standards bodies and strategic partnerships.
• Partner with the SVP of PSTS to prioritize new technology investments with clear ROI and margin impact.
• Drive cost optimization across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem infrastructure, including storage, render, network, and endpoints.
• Own vendor strategy and negotiations, delivering improvements in cost, performance, and support.
• Lead business cases for major investments and present recommendations to executive leadership.
• Apply a flexible resourcing model across full-time, contract, and global resources
• Be bold but calculated in new technology investments – putting an emphasis on enabling margin improvement for our business
• Own the business case for major technology investments, presenting recommendations and outcomes to executive leadership
• Implement and manage best of breed technologies to secure sensitive pre-release and post release content
• Provide thought leadership in the ways in which technology can better enforce security standards, without compromising user performance for crew and artists
• Partner with Information Security, Legal, Privacy, and Productions to ensure adherence to regulatory, MPAA, TPN, and internal SPE policies and standards
• Support incident response planning, internal and third party audits, and continuous improvement efforts related to production security
• Manage the technology component of third party risk, ensuring suppliers and key vendors adhere to SPE's standards & policies
• Lead a multi-disciplinary team of production operations specialists, engineers, pipeline developers, and operational resources to support our global production business
• Supervise, manage and mentor personnel to ensure peak performance levels are met, if not exceeded.
• Right size, re-tool, and action organizational changes to meet current and future needs of the business.
• Utilize effective communication to work through disagreeing points of view, while not losing focus on outcomes
• As a VP, this role will serve as part of the extended IT Leadership Team and be called upon to contribute and influence broader IT initiatives and programs for the betterment of SPE.

Experience, Skills and Knowledge

Experience and Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience/certifications.
• 10+ years in senior technical leadership roles leading large, cross-functional teams and transformation initiatives.
• 10+ years of hands-on experience in film and/or television production technology across on-set, post, and vendor environments.
• 8+ years in corporate M&E roles focused on production and creative technologies.

Hard Skills

• Deep understanding of camera-to-post workflows, editorial and VFX pipelines, and delivery.
• Proven experience supporting active productions under high-pressure schedules.
• Strong expertise in content security, digital asset management, and high-value IP protection.
• Hands-on experience with hybrid cloud/on-prem media infrastructure (storage, compute, render, collaboration).
• Strong working knowledge of NLEs, VFX tools, dailies platforms, production productivity tools, and modern collaboration stacks.
• Experience implementing automation, ML, or AI-enabled tools in production environments.
• Budget ownership, vendor management, and large-scale program delivery experience

Soft Skills

• Exceptional communicator able to bridge creative, technical, and executive perspectives.
• Clear, confident writer capable of influencing decisions and driving alignment.
• Strong customer-service mindset with the ability to lead through change.
• Independent, decisive leader who empowers teams while maintaining accountability.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $205,000-$285,000. This role may also qualify for annual incentive and/or comprehensive benefits. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location of the position.

Sony Pictures Entertainment is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.

SPE will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with applicable law.

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