Dir, DCL Infrastructure & Technology Operations

About Us:
“We Power the Magic!” That’s our motto at Disney Experiences (DX) Technology. Our team creates world-class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands. We deliver experiences to consumers through our Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Lines, and Disney Vacation Club. We are responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digitally led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, and Merchandise lines of business, as well as other initiatives such as Hey, Disney!

This position is situated within the team dedicated to Disney Cruise Line Strategic Growth, Infrastructure, and Tech Operations under DX Technology.

As the Director, Infrastructure & Tech Operations, you will report directly to the Vice President, Technology.

About the Role & Team:
Disney Cruise Line is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth, and you will be responsible for leading the technology operations function for both the existing fleet and the expanding fleet as each new ship is brought into service. In the role of Director, Infrastructure & Tech Operations, you will be accountable for all shared service technology operations for shoreside, the current fleet of six ships (which will grow to 13), two island destinations, and our outport operations, while also collaborating with our new build teams to ensure the successful delivery of each new vessel. You will work closely with the Disney Cruise Line business and shipboard operations executive leadership teams to ensure that technology operations meet and exceed the needs of our business. 

The successful candidate will lead a diverse team of skilled engineers in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust and resilient systems that support our fleet’s operational needs and enhance the guest experience. This leader will possess a profound technical understanding of system architecture, automation, monitoring, and incident management. You will lead a cross-functional team at the nexus of technology, guest experience, and operational excellence, ensuring that downtime is minimized, and the performance of our infrastructure is optimized. This encompasses network, satellite, server, systems, device management, and site reliability engineering disciplines.

What You’ll Do:

• Responsible for consultation, designing, building, and supporting development pipelines

• Responsible for the creation of telemetry for monitoring, engineer high reliability, and reinforce best practices to secure company data

• Responsible for the systems administration in Linux and Windows platforms, bringing knowledge on systems, network, operational excellence, and application stability, security, performance, and capacity management

• Manage the design, deployment and on-going operations of the ship wide networks for the fleet and islands, partnering with providers for satellite services

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to drive innovation and achieve business objectives

• Manage the Technology outport strategy and operations function in partnership with our business partners to ensure our industry leading embarkation processes are successful

• Manage the onboard Technology Officer support function, to ensure onboard L1 and L2 functions and systems are available across the fleet, across the world

• Responsible for Tech Ops expense budgets for ships, shore and islands

• Responsible for the long-term and annual planning of Technology and Digital investment

• Lead a complex device management function that maintains, services and enables all ships, islands and outports

• Manage and mentor a team of professionals, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.  Lead with an inclusive mindset and establish a culture of trust, transparency and collaboration

• Ensure compliance with company standards and regulatory requirements

• Monitor and analyze performance metrics to identify areas for improvement and implement corrective actions

• Represent the department in executive meetings and provide insights and recommendations to senior leadership

• Positive, inspiring, and collaborative mindset that can be a trusted advocate for the DX Tech & Digital team that partners across the segments to ensure alignment with broader company-wide initiatives

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• 12+ years of related experience in Systems Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering and/or Infrastructure engineering

• Strong strategic vision, planning and execution skills, with a track record of driving business-aligned technology initiatives

• Experience leading high performing technology teams building, deploying, and maintaining scalable and resilient enterprise solutions in a cloud environment

• Experience with virtualized environments; cloud technologies, both public and private (AWS, Google Cloud, etc.)

• Strong financial background and experience managing budget at multiple levels

• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally 20% of the time

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously

• Demonstrated critical thinking, strategic planning, and process management

• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop high-performing teams

• In-depth knowledge of industry trends and best practices

• Proven experience in the cruise and/or related industries

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

• Minimum of 12 years of related work experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in network engineering, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent experience

• Experience with specific technologies, methodologies, or certifications relevant to network engineering

• Previous experience in a similar role within a large, complex organization

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