Job Posting Title:
Manager, Operations
Req ID:
Job Description:
The Operations Manager, Infrastructure Services - Burbank Studio Lot, is responsible for the day-to-day operation, maintenance, and reliability of infrastructure systems supporting one of The Walt Disney Company's most complex studio campus environments. This role leads a large multi-trade operation responsible for maintaining critical building systems, utilities, grounds, hardscapes, and trade services that support active studio production, corporate operations, executive offices, and business partners.
This position serves as a key operational leader within Corporate Real Estate Operations' Infrastructure Services team and is responsible for leading union and non-union personnel, executing maintenance and repair programs, managing operating budgets, supporting recurring capital planning, and delivering a high level of client service in a safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner.
The Operations Manager partners closely with Engineering Services, Capital Planning, Design & Delivery, Safety, Security, Production Services, Client Services, Labor Relations, Human Resources, FP&A, Finance, Sourcing, and external service providers to ensure infrastructure operations are aligned with business needs, asset lifecycle priorities, financial targets, and long-term campus strategies.
What You Will Do Infrastructure Operations & Maintenance Leadership - Lead day-to-day infrastructure operations for the Burbank Studio Lot, including maintenance, repair, and operation of building systems, central utility infrastructure, grounds, hardscapes, and campus trade services.
- Manage multi-trade operations across Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing, Landscaping, Utility Workers, Paint, Mill/Carpentry, and support staff.
- Maintain operational reliability of critical infrastructure systems, including electrical distribution, emergency power, HVAC, plumbing, building automation/controls, site utilities, stormwater systems, life safety systems, and other campus support infrastructure.
- Drive preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance programs using CMMS data, asset condition assessments, work order trends, field inspections, and operational metrics.
- Coordinate emergency response activities related to infrastructure failures, utility outages, weather events, life-safety conditions, production impacts, and other operational disruptions.
- Conduct routine field assessments and site walks to identify asset deficiencies, deferred maintenance, operational risks, customer service needs, and capital renewal opportunities.
- Balance daily reactive work, preventive maintenance, production support, client service requests, and project-related work while maintaining service levels and infrastructure reliability.
- Maintain documentation related to infrastructure assets, drawings, as-builts, single-line diagrams, maintenance records, work order history, and operating procedures.
Union Workforce & Labor Leadership - Lead a large multi-trade workforce that includes directly represented union employees, foremen, gang bosses, supervisors, support personnel, contractors, and third-party service providers.
- Provide day-to-day leadership and direction to trade leadership teams across HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Utility, Landscaping, Paint, and Mill/Carpentry functions.
- Partner with Labor Relations, Human Resources, and union leadership to support contract administration, workforce planning, employee relations, grievance resolution, and a productive labor-management environment.
- Ensure work is assigned and executed in alignment with applicable collective bargaining agreements, company policies, jurisdictional requirements, safety standards, and operational priorities.
- Manage labor utilization, staffing plans, overtime requirements, contracted services, workload balancing, and resource allocation across multiple trades.
- Develop foremen, gang bosses, and emerging leaders through coaching, mentoring, performance management, succession planning, and training.
- Promote a culture of safety, accountability, professionalism, teamwork, customer service, and continuous improvement.
Financial & Strategic Management - Own development and management of campus operating budgets, ensuring alignment with service levels, labor strategies, maintenance requirements, asset reliability needs, and operational performance targets.
- Partner closely with FP&A teams to prepare Annual Operating Plan expense budgets, monthly forecasts, quarterly forecasts/reforecasts, variance explanations, and financial updates.
- Manage labor forecasting, overtime planning, material spending, service contracts, repair costs, and other operating expenditures while identifying opportunities for cost control and service improvement.
- Partner with the Capital Planning team to develop recurring annual capital plans, incorporating asset condition, lifecycle replacement needs, maintenance trends, operational risks, client impacts, and long-range campus requirements.
- Support development of 1-5 year capital maintenance plans by identifying infrastructure deficiencies, end-of-life assets, deferred maintenance exposure, reliability risks, and business continuity needs.
- Use CMMS data, maintenance history, failure trends, field assessments, asset condition information, and operational feedback to prioritize capital investments and justify funding requests.
- Partner with Engineering Services, Capital Planning, Design & Delivery, FP&A, Finance, and Sourcing to develop scopes of work, cost estimates, project justifications, lifecycle analyses, and investment recommendations.
- Support capital project intake, prioritization, forecasting, and closeout activities to ensure completed work aligns with operational needs and asset records are updated.
- Establish and manage operational KPIs focused on reliability, maintenance effectiveness, labor productivity, work order performance, customer service, backlog, asset availability, safety, and cost performance.
- Partner with Sourcing and Procurement to develop scopes of work, support bid evaluations, manage vendor performance, and negotiate maintenance/service contracts that achieve operational and financial objectives.
Capital Projects & Engineering Coordination - Partner with Engineering Services and Design & Delivery teams during planning, design, construction, commissioning, turnover, and post-project operational support.
- Review proposed infrastructure designs for constructability, maintainability, operational requirements, code compliance, safety, access, shutdown requirements, lifecycle cost, and long-term serviceability.
- Provide operational input into capital projects, tenant improvements, infrastructure upgrades, production support projects, and campus modernization efforts.
- Coordinate with operating teams to plan outages, temporary services, access requirements, labor support, safety controls, and stakeholder communications.
- Support commissioning, punch list resolution, asset turnover, documentation updates, and transition of completed projects into maintenance programs.
- Identify opportunities to improve reliability, resiliency, energy efficiency, maintainability, and operational performance through capital projects and repair programs.
Studio Operations & Client Partnership - Support active studio production, corporate operations, executive spaces, events, and business partners by ensuring infrastructure services are responsive, reliable, and coordinated.
- Partner with Production Services, Studio Operations, Security, Client Services, Safety, Engineering, and business stakeholders to coordinate maintenance activities, utility outages, repairs, special events, and operational support.
- Balance client service needs with infrastructure reliability, safety requirements, trade availability, labor agreements, and financial discipline.
- Communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders regarding infrastructure work, outages, repair plans, risks, timelines, and business impacts.
- Provide practical solutions to complex operational issues while minimizing disruption to production operations, employees, guests, executives, and business partners.
- Maintain high standards of customer service, workplace readiness, safety, and campus appearance.
Safety, Compliance & Risk Management - Champion a strong safety culture across all trades, vendors, contractors, and operational teams.
- Ensure compliance with company safety programs, OSHA requirements, applicable building codes, fire/life safety requirements, environmental standards, and other regulatory obligations.
- Partner with Safety, Security, Fire/Life Safety, Engineering, Risk Management, and AHJs as needed to resolve issues and maintain compliance.
- Ensure teams follow appropriate job hazard analysis, lockout/tagout, hot work, confined space, fall protection, electrical safety, and other required safety protocols.
- Identify operational and infrastructure risks and develop mitigation plans to reduce exposure to business interruption, safety incidents, asset failures, and service disruption.
Basic Qualifications Technical - Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Facilities Management, Construction Management, Business, or a related field; equivalent work experience may be considered where appropriate.
- 7+ years of experience in facilities operations, infrastructure services, engineering operations, building operations, or a related field.
- Strong working knowledge of building infrastructure systems, including HVAC, electrical distribution, plumbing, building automation/controls, emergency power, utility infrastructure, central plant systems, grounds/hardscape, and life safety systems.
- Experience operating facilities within a large campus, studio, entertainment, production, healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, municipal, or similarly complex operating environment.
- Experience using CMMS/EAM systems to manage work orders, asset data, maintenance programs, labor productivity, backlog, and operational performance.
- Ability to assess operational risks, asset condition, maintenance trends, and infrastructure reliability issues and develop practical solutions.
- Working knowledge of applicable codes and standards, including OSHA, NFPA, building codes, environmental compliance requirements, and general workplace safety requirements.
Leadership - Demonstrated experience leading directly represented union trades in a multi-trade operating environment.
- Experience managing foremen, gang bosses, supervisors, skilled trades, support staff, contractors, and third-party service providers.
- Strong understanding of labor relations practices, workforce planning, overtime management, staffing models, and collective bargaining environments.
- Proven ability to lead teams in a fast-paced operational environment with competing priorities, critical issues, and high client expectations.
- Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, develop, and hold teams accountable while maintaining a respectful and collaborative work environment.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical issues into clear business impacts for non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to collaborate with internal business partners, senior leaders, vendors, union leadership, and cross-functional support teams.
Financial - Experience managing multi-million-dollar operating budgets, labor budgets, maintenance contracts, material expenditures, and service agreements.
- Experience partnering with FP&A and Finance teams on AOP expense budgets, monthly forecasts, quarterly forecasts, variance analysis, and financial reporting.
- Experience supporting recurring capital planning, lifecycle replacement programs, infrastructure renewal, and capital investment prioritization.
- Strong analytical skills related to labor utilization, maintenance performance, work order trends, asset lifecycle planning, cost control, and service-level performance.
- Experience developing scopes of work, cost estimates, business cases, funding requests, and vendor bid evaluations.
Preferred Qualifications - Experience supporting studio, entertainment, media, production, or active campus environments.
- Direct experience working with unionized trade teams and collective bargaining agreements.
- Professional certifications such as CFM, FMP, PMP, LEED AP, RPA/FMA, SMA, or trade-related certifications.
- Advanced degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Facilities Management, Construction Management, or related discipline.
- Experience supporting central plant operations, critical infrastructure, utility distribution, emergency response, and business continuity planning.
- Experience developing recurring capital plans, preventive maintenance strategies, reliability-centered maintenance programs, or enterprise asset management improvements.
- Experience partnering with Capital Planning, FP&A, Sourcing, Labor Relations, Engineering, Design & Delivery, and Safety teams in a matrixed organization.
The hiring range for this position in Burbank, CA is $105,100 to $140,900 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
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