DDSI – Senior Manager, Data Engineering

Lake Buena Vista, United States

Department/Group Description:

The Disney Decision Science and Integration (DDSI) team is responsible for supporting clients across The Walt Disney Company including Disney Experiences (e.g. Parks, Cruise Line, Consumer Products) and Disney Entertainment and ESPN (e.g. Linear media networks, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Theatrical Group, Disney Streaming.)  DDSI leverages technology, data analytics, statistical and econometric modeling and optimization, to explore opportunities, shape business decisions and drive business value.

The Data Engineering team leads the acquisition and processing of all data needed for projects across DDSI.  This role will initially oversee activities supporting the Parks Yield Management portfolio of projects which includes new development and sustainment activities across our global locations (WDW, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland).  The team is involved in various product development activities ranging from data acquisition and validation, designing and implementing ETL/ELT data pipelines, designing and implementing databases, integration with production data warehouse and applications, and ad-hoc analytics. The ideal candidate has a diverse background not only in Data Engineering, but also multiple technology areas which might include Architecture, Data Warehousing, Application Development, Networking and/or Infrastructure.

Responsibilities of the Role:

The Senior Manager, Data Engineering  role is responsible for leading a team of data engineering managers and data engineers involved in development and sustainment activities across a portfolio of applications for multiple segments of The Walt Disney Company. The role will partner with other leaders in defining and planning the strategic roadmap and timing of new features, will handle sizing and level of effort estimates, manage work assignments across the team, define and ensure consistency of design patterns/principles across the portfolio of projects, and works to remove technical, business and organizational roadblocks for the team.

This position is expected to interact and establish partnerships with teams across DDSI, the business client, and client technology organizations. Coordinates resource allocations across the portfolio of products to meet the needs and timelines of the projects. Plays a key role in influencing the direction of the products and corresponding priorities. The Sr. Manager is also responsible for hiring decisions, establishing career goals for cast, providing performance evaluations, ensuring the team is staffed properly and has the right skills necessary for the job.

Work assignments for the team may cover activities such as data requirements gathering, source-to-target mapping, data validation scripting and review, data visualization, developing and monitoring ETL/ELT data pipelines, designing and implementing database schema/tables/views, implementing data services API’s, and performance tuning.

Technologies generally leveraged to fulfill the work include, but not limited to, SQL, Python, Docker, Gitlab, Airflow, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL.

Core Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering or related field

• 10+ years technical work experience

• 3+ years prior experience in a technology management capacity

• Experience managing large data platforms

• Experience leading efforts in designing, building and maintaining ETL/ELT data pipelines

• Strong understanding of relational database design and proficiency utilizing tools such as PostgreSQL, Snowflake, Aurora or similar

• Deep understanding in the differences and uses between application databases vs. data warehouses vs. data lakes

• Broad experience across technologies and tools related to data, applications, infrastructure, and architecture

• Experience with modern cloud-based tools, both licensed and open-source

• Experience managing and deploying code using a source control product such as GitLab/GitHub

• Experience leveraging containerization technologies such as Docker or Kubernetes

• Knowledgeable on cloud architecture and product offerings, preferably AWS

• Ability to drive comprehensive solutions

• Ability to bridge the business and technical world, and demonstrate business and domain knowledge

• Experience establishing and leading large teams

• Experience leading developers in a multi environment (Dev, QA, Prod, etc.) and procedures for code deployment/promotion.

• Demonstrated ability to champion projects and initiatives from beginning through implementation, meet deadlines, and balance multiple priorities

• Ability to identify, evaluate, and implement new technology platforms, tools and solutions to meet upcoming business needs

• Proven experience defining and/or leading strategic initiatives

• Ensures alignment with leadership on high-level prioritization and decision-making

Desired Qualifications:

• Master’s degree (Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering or related field preferred)

• Prior experience with Theme Park, Hospitality, or Entertainment industries

• Prior experience in a DBA capacity and with performance tuning

• Knowledgeable with Architecture Principles and Design

• Experience leveraging Snowflake in an OLTP and OLAP capacity

• Multiple years of experience with Python and SQL

• Familiarity with data streaming and batch data processing

• Knowledgeable knowing how to leverage job scheduling software like Apache Airflow, Amazon

• Involved in driving standard practices around data engineering software development processes