Senior Manager, Mastering

Senior Manager, Mastering

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.

Content Platforms & Operations is responsible for the development and ongoing advancement of the technical and operational functions driving the worldwide distribution and monetization of Disney's linear networks and theatrical content. This includes Disney's media supply chain and storage, network and theatrical distribution operations, media localization, network transmission and origination, and more. The global team also plays a critical role as the primary collaboration point for Product & Technology with Disney's EMEA, APAC, and LATAM regional business teams.

Job Summary:

The Mastering department are responsible for the mastering of all titles produced by 20 th Television, ABC Signature Studios, Freeform, FX Productions, Disney Branded Television, Hulu, and other production entities, including content acquired for Disney+ and Hotstar. The Mastering department liaise with studios, production companies, post-production, third party audio and QC vendors to acquire, QC, prepare and transform both preliminary and final materials for localization, servicing, and global archival purposes. The Mastering department are the gateway between production and consumption of over 300 television series enjoyed by global audiences on multiple platforms including Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar, FX, ABC Network, Disney Channels, and Freeform.

The Senior Manager, Mastering will report into the Director, Mastering and will be primarily responsible for ensuring their direct reports and manager teams are adhering to the Mastering SOPs and effectively communicating mastering timelines and workflows. They will be a subject matter expert on specific brands (Disney Branded Television/ABC Currents/ABC News/ABC Alternative/Freeform), leading discussions and initiatives pertinent to those brands.

The Senior Manager, Mastering will lead meetings with cross-functional teams both external, such as postproduction, and internally within Content Platforms and Distribution Operations teams such as servicing, dubbing and Media Asset Prep. They are expected to be the owners and lead communication on priorities relevant to their brand, in addition to sending a weekly report to the Director to understand critical shows and projects within the team.

This role will play a key role in overseeing our Estimated Final Costs "EFC", budgets and ensuring that the team has a solid foundation for costs associated with the workflows. Usage of the EFC tool for creation, reporting and confirming will be required as well as proactively flagging any issues, concerns or risks to senior management.

Finally, the Senior Manager, Mastering will work closely with Mastering leadership to advise and redefine what mastering is and how to create effective workflows for new and emerging content such as podcasts, music videos, vertical videos/microdramas. They'll be required to oversee their team's metrics to help make sure we have on time and right first-time metrics that reflect our required timelines and efficient workflows. Senior Managers assist the Director and VP in vendor management by leading weekly meetings and requesting Root Cause Analysis/Preventative Actions through our CASE system. Ultimately, we look to this role to help identify issues and address promptly with solutions that reflect the larger team initiatives and OKRs.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Team Management; including team 1:1; updating SOPs and Documentation and workflows as needed
• EFC / Budget Management
• Leading Cross Functional external and internal Distribution Ops Meetings

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor's Degree and minimum 10+ years digital media/content distribution with a focus on mastering or distribution operations
• Prior Experience required at a Studio, Network, Streaming Platform, Vendor or Post House.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal are essential, as is the ability to advocate and negotiate diplomatically within a matrixed organization. Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills.
• Must have strong Microsoft Excel and Google Doc skills; Python experience a plus.
• Strong computer skills with Microsoft Office Suite, experience using MAC, PC, iOS, Android, Web based applications and services.
• Demonstrated knowledge of process improvement methodologies, metrics and OKRs and ability to manage large scale projects or programs.
• Provides leadership and oversees multiple teams and vendors across large scale projects and departments. Manages multiple related teams, sets organizational priorities and allocates resources.
• Critical thinker possessing excellent writing and communication skills.
• Skilled multi-tasker able to prioritize and handle several requests and projects concurrently with deadlines.