Executive Director, Disney Technology Operations And Business Continuity

Job Summary:

Enterprise Technology at The Walt Disney Company:

At Disney, we're storytellers. We make the impossible, possible.

The Walt Disney Company 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 connect, protect and empower the Magic. We deliver technology solutions that align to business strategies while enabling enterprise efficiency and promoting cross-company collaborative innovation.

  The Enterprise Technology organization drives competitive advantage by enhancing our consumer experiences, enabling business growth, and advancing operational excellence.   Located in key tech hubs including Orlando, Burbank, Seattle, Bristol, and New York as well as International, our teams collaborate to drive technological innovation and operational excellence.

End-User and Technical Operations Organization (EUTO):

Within Enterprise Technology, End-User and Technical Operations is an organization focused on coordinating and carrying out the activities and processes required to deliver and manage technology services for Enterprise Technology. We deliver exceptional service with every interaction for our end-users and clients by offering world class operations that scale for optimizing and improving the overall end user experience.

The Disney Technology Operations and Business Continuity team is a multi-disciplinary function including the management of an integrated 24x7x365 Operations center, which is charged with the mission of monitoring Enterprise Technology services, reducing incidents, and shortening the impact of events, all while minimizing service disruption to our customers. Core is the Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence capabilities of the organization. Embedded in within the supporting organizations is a diverse and cross-functional experts providing a wide array of technical expertise.

Role of the Executive Director, Disney Technology Operations and Business Continuity

The Executive Director, Disney Technology Operations and Business Continuity at The Walt Disney Company is a central figure in delivering disruption free operations within EUTO. This role extends beyond the day-to-day operations to include leading critical areas such as incident, crisis, problem, and event management.

Key collaborations with SRE, Engineering groups, network operations centers, telecom operations, and L1/L2 infrastructure teams underscore this executive's role as a strategic leader in End-User & Technical Operations. This position will play an instrumental role in cross-segment/cross-business engagement and through influence build collaboration and support for down-stream dependencies in our technology landscape.

In addition to these responsibilities, this position plays a crucial role for ITIL-based Service Management and Delivery, ensuring efficient and effective technology service delivery across the company. This involves implementing and optimizing ITIL practices in Change, Asset, CMDB and HyperCare management, which are pivotal in maintaining high service quality and customer satisfaction. Overseeing Vulnerability and Compliance Management enforces rigorous adherence to SOX and PCI compliance standards and ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure and applications is critical to our compliance responsibilities.

This role will play a crucial part in safeguarding our organization's resilience and adaptability. You will be responsible for developing comprehensive crisis management plans and protocols, meticulously designed to navigate emergencies with precision and effectiveness. Working with Disney's Global Crisis Management team, this role will lead the Enterprise Technology crisis response teams and orchestrate coordinated actions and communications to mitigate the impact of disruptive events, ensuring minimal disruption to our operations and services.

Additionally, the role will be responsible for the development and implementation of comprehensive plans and strategies to ensure the organization's ability to effectively respond to and recover from disasters and disruptions.

Responsibilities include coordinating with cross-functional teams to identify critical business functions, conducting risk assessments, and designing robust recovery plans.

This role also involves overseeing regular testing and exercises to validate recovery procedures, as well as collaborating with external partners and stakeholders to enhance resilience. The Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Executive plays a crucial role in safeguarding the organization's continuity of operations and minimizing the impact of potential disruptions.

Leading a diverse team of over 50 professionals, both Disney employees and outsourced supplier personnel, this role is responsible for creating, implementing leading programs and processes that are crucial for the maintenance and availability of a complex technology service portfolio. The role demands not just operational expertise but also visionary leadership to uphold high standards of service and operational excellence within the company.

Responsibilities:

Influence and Leadership: Guiding organizational strategy and driving impactful decision-making processes.

Responsibilities include providing visionary leadership, fostering a culture of innovation, and influencing cross-functional teams to achieve strategic objectives. This role requires exceptional communication and collaboration skills to inspire and empower team members at all levels.

• Organizational Leadership: Lead, manage, and develop three key organizations responsible for Major Incident Management, ITIL-based Service Management and delivery, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Ensure these teams are effective in delivering their respective services while fostering a collaborative and forward-thinking work environment.

• Major Incident Management: Provide strategic direction and management DTOC's Major Incident Management team, ensuring rapid and effective response to critical IT incidents. Develop strategies to minimize impact and downtime, and lead recovery efforts during major service disruptions.

• Technology Risk Reduction: Drive initiatives to mitigate risks within Enterprise Technology applications, services, and infrastructure, ensuring maximum service and infrastructure availability to global stakeholders across all TWDC segments.

• Continuous Monitoring and Incident Prevention: Oversee 24/7 monitoring of critical technology infrastructure and services, and proactively detect and resolve service-impacting events to prevent major incidents.

• ITIL Service Management Excellence: Implement and refine ITIL methodologies across the teams, focusing on Change, Asset, and HyperCare management to optimize stakeholder service delivery.

• Problem Management and Continuous Improvement: Direct and improve problem management processes, learning from past incidents to enhance system reliability and operational efficiency.

• Vulnerability Management: Actively oversee and manage vulnerability management, proactively reducing technology risks by reducing vulnerabilities across a large technology portfolio.

• Communication and Collaboration: Foster effective collaboration with technology teams and communicate service-impacting events within TWDC and to executive stakeholders.

• Crisis Management and Strategic Planning: Oversee the IT Emergency Operations Center Crisis Management plan, ensuring its continual integration and improvement within the broader corporate crisis management strategy.

• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Oversee the development and implementation of plans to ensure the Enterprise Technology's resilience in the face of disasters and disruptions.
  
  Responsibilities include identifying critical functions, conducting risk assessments, and coordinating recovery efforts. This is essential for maintaining continuity of operations and minimizing downtime.

• Technical Support and Proactive Monitoring: Provide leadership in technical support, system/service checks, and proactive monitoring, particularly during significant business events.

• Future Risk Management and Strategic Leadership: Strategically guide the service delivery team in anticipating and preparing for future technological risks.

Basic Qualifications:

• 12+ years of IT/IS management of IT Infrastructure and Enterprise Platforms

• 10 years in leadership role within IT shared services organization

• 10 years experience working in an ITIL framework or six sigma organization

• 10+ years of people management experience

• ITILv3 Foundations Certified

• Required Education : Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or IT Management, or relevant degree or coursework

• Preferred Education : MBA or Master degree in IT Technology Management

About The Walt Disney Company (Corporate):

At Disney Corporate you can see how the businesses behind the Company's powerful brands come together to create the most innovative, far-reaching and admired entertainment company in the world. As a member of a corporate team, you'll work with world-class leaders driving the strategies that keep The Walt Disney Company at the leading edge of entertainment. See and be seen by other innovative thinkers as you enable the greatest storytellers in the world to create memories for millions of families around the globe.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with the following business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, Disney Parks, and Experiences and Products.

From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney's stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., which is part of a business we call The Walt Disney Company (Corporate).

Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.

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