Lead Technical Project Manager

About the Role & Team 

“We Power the Magic!” That’s our motto at Disney Experiences - Technology & Digital. Our team creates world-class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands including Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club. 

The DX Technology & Digital team is responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digital-led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, and Merchandise lines of business as well as other initiatives including the MyDisneyExperience and Hey, Disney! 

The Lead Technical Program/Project Manager will identify, plan and coordinate a set of related projects within a program, to manage their interdependencies in support of specific business strategies across the Commerce Technology Portfolio and Program. This role sits with the 3PO Team which is responsible for technical project management, project financial management, and program strategy, partnering with Technology, Product, and Design to plan and deliver against our objectives.  

What You Will Do 

• Lead and manage complex project plans, ensuring seamless collaboration across various teams and workstreams. 

• Act as the point of contact for project stakeholders, providing regular updates and ensuring alignment with project goals. 

• Use expertise in user analytics tools to guide and inform project decisions. 

• Monitor project progress, identify potential risks, and implement effective mitigation strategies. 

• Facilitate cross-functional team meetings, fostering a collaborative and productive environment. 

• Build and maintain comprehensive project documentation, including timelines, budgets, and prioritization plans. 

• Assist product owners in developing outcome-based roadmaps, aligning project goals with strategic outcomes. 

• Support technical owners in benchmarking tools, providing insights on tool selection and implementation. 

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches throughout the project. 

• Produce monthly expense and capital forecasts. 

• Research and provide cause of change for variances from the project scope, schedule, and cost. 

• Maintain a continuous view of resource demand and capacity across projects; proactively partnering with leadership to plan for leveled resource allocation across development and sustainment activities. 

• Ability to translate financials information and objectives to leaders, business partners, Finance, Sourcing & Procurement to tell the ‘story’ behind the numbers. 

Required Qualifications & Skills 

• Minimum of 7 years of Project management experience working with technical teams developing enterprise class solutions. 

• Experience working closely with technology, creative and user experience teams. 

• Experience with budget tracking and cost-benefit analysis. 

• Solid ability to drive complex forecasts & capacity plans and to communicate risks and dependencies to leaders and business partners. 

• Hands-on experience with practices such as Agile, Lean, Kanban, or Waterfall methodologies. 

• Ability to understand architectural and technical aspects of projects. 

• Strong organizational, communication (written and verbal) and time management skills with attention to detail. 

• Experience with Agile Application Lifecycle Management and development tools like JIRA, Confluence Wiki.  Jira expertise is a must. 

• Understanding of Agile and SAFe technical practices, DevOps and testing concepts (CI/CD, TDD) 

• Experience in coaching and mentoring teams on project management standard methodologies. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Technical project management experience in software development 

• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification  

• Agile Certifications (CSM; ACP; CSPO; SAFe; LeSS)  

Education 

• Bachelor's Degree in relevant field of study and/or equivalent experience