The Walt Disney Company

Principal Product Manager, Data Platforms

The Walt Disney Company$188K — $252K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in product management with a focus on data or marketing technology
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field
  • Proven end-to-end ownership of a platform with measurable outcomes
  • Strong understanding of marketing data stack including audience segmentation and identity resolution
  • Technical depth in data modeling, warehouse architecture, and system trade-offs
  • Understanding of privacy and consent regulations like GDPR and CCPA
  • Demonstrated ability to influence in matrixed organizations

Responsibilities

  • Own the vision, strategy, and roadmap for the Data Growth Platform
  • Manage the cross-segment data model, audience creation, and campaign measurement
  • Act as the accountable owner across multiple engineering and business units
  • Ensure privacy and governance are prioritized in product development
  • Evaluate build-vs-buy options across the vendor landscape and data solutions
  • Establish measurable platform goals and publish progress scorecards
  • Facilitate self-service audience analysis for marketers without dependency on IT

Benefits

  • Healthcare coverage including medical, dental, and vision
  • Flexible working hours and remote work options
  • Paid time off and holidays
  • Retirement savings plan with company match
  • Employee discounts across Disney products and experiences
Full Job Description

Job Posting Title:

Principal Product Manager, Data Platforms

Req ID:

Job Description:

Ad & Data Platforms is responsible for Disney’s industry-leading ad technology and products – driving advertising performance, innovation, and value in Disney’s sports, news, and entertainment content, across all media platforms.

About the Role

We are hiring a Principal Product Manager to own the Data Growth Platform end to end: the platform and its architecture, the quarter-over-quarter improvement of its core capabilities, the expansion of the platform into One Disney use cases across every segment, and the marketing outcomes it delivers.

The seven workstreams that make up the platform, data pipelines and sharing, audience analytics and modeling, identity and household resolution, governance automation, audience creation and management, centralized and federated activation, and measurement and optimization, currently run across Corporate Brand, Ad Sales, Disney Experiences, Streaming, enterprise data science, and multiple engineering squads. You are the single product owner who makes them behave as one platform.

This is a builder-operator role with unusual breadth. You will set the vision and own business outcomes, but you will also be in the data model, the identity match rates, the governance workflow, and the campaign results. Success is measured not by what ships, but by what the business wins because it shipped.

Responsibilities

1. The Platform, End to End

  • Own the vision, strategy, and roadmap across data, identity, intelligence, and activation — and sequence it so each milestone delivers standalone business value rather than infrastructure alone.
  • Own the full product surface: the cross-segment data model and data sharing architecture, identity and household resolution, the governance layer and data contracts, audience creation, centralized and federated activation, and campaign measurement.
  • Be the accountable owner across a matrix: engineering squads, Corporate Brand, Ad Sales, Disney Experiences, enterprise data science, Privacy, Legal, and Data Governance. You unblock; you do not escalate.
  • Hold the line on privacy and governance as a first principle, not a gate at the end. Consent enforcement, tagging and masking, GDPR and CCPA policy, and lineage are product requirements you own alongside engineering and Legal.
  • Make build-vs-buy-vs-partner calls explicit across the vendor landscape, cloud data warehousing, ML and analytics tooling, reverse-ETL activation, marketing clouds, identity and enrichment providers, and data cataloging,  and own the evaluation and funding case for third-party enrichment.
  • Guard the reuse principle. The platform succeeds by extending what Disney already has. Resist rebuilds; productize common integrations and patterns so the next use case is cheaper than the last.

2. Improving the Platform Quarter Over Quarter

  • Set objective measures, not deadlines. Establish a quarterly operating rhythm with a small number of measurable platform goals, a published scorecard, and an honest retrospective on what moved and what did not.
  • Own and improve the core platform metrics: audience development cycle time, audience analytics project throughput, activation volume, identity and household match coverage, data freshness, activation success rate, share of governance requests auto-approved, and time-to-first-value for a new team onboarding.
  • Close the known gaps. Profile-level data across the streaming services remains incomplete, and household resolution depends on privacy clearance for the deterministic householding solution, with third-party household IDs as a partial fallback. Own the plan, the sequencing, and the fallback.
  • Drive self-service. Push conversational and AI-assisted audience analysis to the point where a marketer can size and build an audience without filing a ticket, and mature it from prototype to production quality.
  • Fund and defend platform debt paydown so the cost of each incremental use case falls every quarter.

3. Unlocking New Use Cases

  • Make the platform the default growth layer across Entertainment and Streaming, ESPN, Disney Experiences, Consumer Products, Studios, and Ad Sales,  not a tool serving one org.
  • Land the foundational use cases and turn each into a reusable pattern: incremental audience activation, lapsed subscriber re-engagement, content and creative personalization by franchise affinity, enterprise synergy and suppression, cross-business engagement modeling, and guest next-best-action.
  • Get the first real activations live and instrumented so the platform generates its own performance data,  the single most important unlock in front of it today.
  • Partner deeply across business units. Understand each segment's goals, data, constraints, and incentives, and design solutions that serve more than one of them at a time.
  • Navigate the governance frontier with Privacy, Legal, and Data Governance from the start: data contracts, anonymization strategy for onboarding business-unit datasets, permission and consent consolidation, and the household identity rulings that gate the roadmap.

4. Driving Marketing Wins

  • Tie platform capability directly to business outcomes: user-level ARPU, cross-enterprise lifetime value per household, churn reduction, incremental conversion into new lines of business, and marketing spend efficiency.
  • Partner with marketing teams on real campaigns:  tentpoles, cruise and park conversion, streaming win-back, and make sure the platform is the reason they performed better.
  • Build measurement and experimentation into the platform so wins are provable and repeatable. Land a platform-native campaign ID stamped upstream in every vendor, then unique reach, frequency, overlap, and incremental lift.
  • Change the narrative. The platform currently reads to leadership as a technology enabler, which understates its role in One Disney. Build the portfolio of documented, attributable wins that reframes it as a growth engine,  and use it to secure continued investment.
  • Treat marketers as your primary customer. Know their workflow better than they do, and translate their feedback into the roadmap continuously.

Basic Qualifications
  • 10+ years in product management, with significant time on data, platform, or marketing technology products serving internal customers.
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field.
  • Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of a platform, vision through operations,  with quantified outcomes you can point to.
  • Deep fluency in the marketing data stack: customer data platforms, identity resolution, audience segmentation and activation, campaign delivery, and measurement and attribution.
  • Strong technical depth. You can hold your own on data modeling, warehouse architecture, API contracts, and system trade-offs, and engineers respect your judgment.
  • Working command of privacy and consent as product constraints,  GDPR, CCPA, consent enforcement, data masking and tagging, and the approval workflows that surround marketing data.
  • A track record of influencing without authority across large, matrixed organizations with independent P&Ls and competing priorities.
  • Rigorous, metrics-first operating style: you define the measure before you build, and you report against it honestly.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication. You can brief an engineer and an executive on the same problem in the same week and be equally clear.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in media, entertainment, streaming, consumer subscription, or large-scale consumer retail and hospitality.
  • Hands-on experience with cloud data warehouses, lakehouse analytics platforms, and warehouse-native activation or reverse-ETL tooling.
  • Experience delivering identity resolution or householding at scale, including third-party enrichment and match-rate trade-offs.
  • Experience applying machine learning or LLM-based intelligence to audience analysis, affinity modeling, personalization, or next-best-action.
  • Experience building shared platforms across multiple business units or brands, including the governance and data-contract work that requires.
  • Experience rebuilding credibility for an initiative in a space where prior attempts have created stakeholder fatigue.

#TECHATDISNEY

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco, CA is $206,400 - $276,700 per year and in Santa Monica/Glendale, CA is $188,400 - $252,600 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.

Job Posting Segment:

Commerce, Data & Identity

Job Posting Primary Business:

CGI - Data Product

Primary Job Posting Category:

Product Management Tech

Employment Type:

Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code:

San Francisco, CA, USA

Alternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:

USA - CA - 1200 Grand Central Ave, USA - CA - 2450 Broadway

Date Posted:

2026-08-28

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company started as a cartoon studio and evolves into sports coverage and television shows. Using the company's portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services, and consumer products, Walt Disney seeks to develop creative, innovative, and profitable entertainment experiences and related products.

The Walt Disney Company Careers

Join the magical world of The Walt Disney Company, a place where dreams come true and imagination meets innovation. As a global leader in entertainment and media, we offer unparalleled job opportunities that invite you to be part of a beloved brand known for its influential culture, diversity, and dynamic growth. Work You’ll Do Embark on a career journey with The Walt Disney Company and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of media and entertainment. Engage in work that matters, contributes to storytelling excellence, and brings joy to millions around the globe. Transform your professional life by joining a team that values creativity, leadership, and visionary thinking. The Walt Disney Company stands at the forefront of industry innovation, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in entertainment and beyond. Lead with us from a unique position in the marketplace, where your skills in technology, creativity, and management converge to create extraordinary experiences. Collaborate with a diverse group of talented professionals, united in their passion for delivering magical experiences. Our team at The Walt Disney Company is composed of over 200,000 dedicated individuals who thrive in an environment that fosters growth, mentorship, and innovation. Introducing The Walt Disney Company Leadership and Professional Growth Programs We are committed to developing leaders who can navigate the challenges of the digital era and drive success across our various business segments. Our leadership programs are designed to hone your skills and prepare you for executive roles within the company. Do Innovative Work Join our team and contribute to projects that redefine the entertainment landscape. From groundbreaking films and television series to pioneering technological advancements, your work at The Walt Disney Company will set new standards in the creative and business worlds. Be Part of a Great Team Experience a culture that is inclusive, collaborative, and forward-thinking. Work alongside the best in the business and see how diversity and inclusion fuel our creativity and success. The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to a diverse workforce is evident in our hiring practices, training programs, and our everyday operations. Future-Proof Your Career With a wide array of benefits, continuous learning opportunities, and a network of supportive colleagues, your career at The Walt Disney Company is equipped for longevity and success. Our benefits package includes comprehensive health care, employee discounts, and access to exclusive company events and previews. Explore Job Opportunities and Internships Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking for your next challenge or a student seeking a transformative internship, The Walt Disney Company offers positions across a spectrum of fields and disciplines. Explore our career portal to find job opportunities that match your skills and passions. Stay Connected Join Our Team Search open positions, apply through our streamlined application process, and take the first step towards a magical career. We look for individuals who are passionate, curious, and eager to contribute to our legacy of storytelling and innovation. Keep Up to Date Stay informed with the latest company news, career tips, and insider perspectives—all from the people who make The Walt Disney Company a place of inspiration and excitement. Job Alert Emails Customize your subscription to receive job alerts and updates that align with your career interests. Discover the exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at The Walt Disney Company. Join us, and be part of the magic that only happens here at The Walt Disney Company!
Learn more about The Walt Disney Company
Size
190,000 employees
Market Cap
$155.1 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$4.9 billion
Founded
1923
5 Year Trend
+3.9%
Revenue
$60.7 billion
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at The Walt Disney Company

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Principal Product Manager, Data Platforms jobs: