Principal Program Manager

The Walt Disney Company • Burbank, CA

6d

About The Position

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.

As a Principal Program Manager at Enterprise Technology IT Transformation Management Office , you will play a pivotal role in driving strategic initiatives and managing complex programs that have a broad impact on the business. You will work closely with senior-level staff and lead projects with notable risk and complexity, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and successful execution. This role is essential in maintaining Disney's position as a leading-edge entertainment company, enabling the greatest storytellers in the world to create memories for millions of families globally.

In this role, you will be responsible for solving unique and complex problems that have a broad impact on the business. You will work directly with senior-level staff, lead programs with notable risk and complexity, and provide critical reporting to inform senior leadership and stakeholders. Your ability to communicate complex ideas and persuade senior-level leaders to adopt different points of view is essential. This role matters in the company as it ensures the alignment of ITAM and SOaR strategies with business priorities and tracks successful transformation outcomes. General skills required for this role include strategic thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in program or product management and operations, strategic planning, or cross-functional program delivery in a technology or media environment.
• Proven experience building and scaling operational frameworks and planning processes.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities across complex, matrixed teams.
• Proficiency with tools such as Airtable, JIRA, Confluence, Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), Excel.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to distill complexity and synthesize plans for executive audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in a product-led organization, particularly with scaled agile or OKR-driven planning environments.
• Familiarity with technical project management and delivery life cycles.
• Experience in strategic initiative planning and financial tracking.
• Prior Disney experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead executive steering forums, operating committees, and cross-segment alignment sessions.
• Resolve complex cross-functional conflicts with enterprise-wide impact.
• Partner closely with segment and technology stakeholders to ensure program strategies align with business priorities.
• Establish and operationalize a standardized framework for planning, documenting, and scoping projects.
• Develop and maintain tooling and documentation standards to support structured planning and roadmap visibility.
• Coordinate and facilitate alignment across Product, Engineering, GIS and across segments.
• Track and communicate changes in scope or planning assumptions that impact delivery timelines.
• Ensure all involved parties understand and accept their roles and responsibilities and are held accountable to their deliverables.
• Independently manage activities and resolve conflict within associated teams.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal