Lead Business Analyst

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally. The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world. 

Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.

Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally. 

Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

Media Engineering builds the software and systems that prepare media content and metadata for the Disney Streaming platform - providing the best possible playback experience to our viewers. The team handles audio, video, and metadata content from ingest through publish - for normalization, processing, and packaging - supporting operator tools and automation for a scalable workflow. We build logic across players and back-end services to measure, control, and optimize playback across our stack.

Disney Streaming is seeking a Lead Business Analyst to join the Strategic Operations team. The role will blend quantitative analysis to provide guidance on key business and operational decisions, while coordinating cross-functional groups to drive operational efficiencies and hands-on management of high priority, strategic initiatives. The Lead Business Analyst is responsible for driving strategic operations and creating and maintaining organizational Airtables, Smartsheets, and Google Docs to support our operations, focusing on the continuous improvement of key processes and identifying efficiencies. Additionally, you will develop and manage organizational OKRs, ensuring alignment of resources and financials with priorities. This includes identifying and executing cost synergy opportunities and participating in the overarching business planning process for the pillar.

The role partners closely with stakeholders in Product, Finance, Portfolio, GPM, and HR to consolidate the Media Engineering pillar’s resource management, informing inputs into the centralized planning process, including AOP/ LRP, quarterly forecasts, and actuals. You will provide operational support to individuals in the region, working with others to support well-being, escalations, and opportunities. You will also develop strong relationships with key partners, including peers in Media Engineering and other engineering teams, product and program management, HR, legal, finance, and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement efficient processes to streamline operations.

• Create and maintain Airtables to track and manage various operational tasks.

• Utilize Google Docs to document processes, procedures, and other important information.

• Analyze data to identify areas for improvement and recommend solutions.

• Collaborate with team members to ensure smooth execution of operational tasks.

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of processes.

• Provide support and training to team members on new processes and tools.

• Continuously improve OKR processes and tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

• Partner with Engineering, Product, and Finance stakeholders to provide financial analysis and strategic recommendations during the evaluation of build vs lease across the pillar’s product portfolio.

• Identify and execute opportunities to drive organizational cost efficiencies.

• Align with Engineering, Product, and Finance stakeholders to drive ongoing analysis of launched product ROI.

• Deliver ad-hoc reports to support business needs, investigate, triage, and resolve metrics-based issues.

• Enhance business intelligence and support data driven decision making, providing key trends and insights.

• Support Director, Strategic Operations, in partnership with HR, on headcount and resourcing prioritization across the Media Engineering pillar.

• Support strategic initiatives and team operations (e.g. organizing executive presentations, contractor and FTE onboarding, cross organizational communication).

• Drive change management and integration, providing documentation, training and guidance to onboard teams to new processes.

• Identify opportunities to improve employee efficiencies, morale, and overall experience.

• Define, launch, and drive structural improvements, organizational goals, and a variety of strategic efforts, relying on technical and data analytic skills and expertise.

• Drive continuous improvement by helping communicate strategy across and within teams, providing clarity around operational frameworks, and fostering cohesion for initiatives including measurement, management, and communication of work. 

• Provide business critical insights, ensure cross functional alignment of goals and execution, and help teams successfully implement and move strategic initiatives forward. 

Key Expectations:

• Bring specialized skills and/or notable breadth of technical expertise to financial management, strategic reporting, and/or departmental operational execution.

• Work not just within the department but across departments to drive business value.

• Command expert understanding of organizational operations, stakeholders, and processes within the department.

• Strong analytical skills and passionate about answering questions with data.

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant working experience in operations, strategy, business planning, project management, or technology sector.

• Bachelor’s Degree

• Proven experience in process improvement and operations analysis.

• Proficiency in Airtable and Google Docs.

• Proven experience in a similar analytical role, preferably with a focus on OKR development or performance management.

• Strong proficiency in data analysis and visualization tools (e.g., Excel, Tableau, Power BI).

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

• Familiarity with OKR software and tools is a plus.

• May lead functional teams or projects with moderate resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity.

• Solves complex problems; takes a new perspective on existing solutions; exercises judgment based on the analysis of multiple sources of information.

• Work is performed with minimal direction.  

• Participates in determining objectives of assignments.  

• Strong planning, scheduling, and organization skills; Excellent attention to detail.

• Fosters positive relationships with partners and stakeholders across the organization.

• Explains difficult or sensitive information; works to build consensus.

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in in Santa Monica and Glendale is $126,400 to $169,500 per year, in Seattle or New York is $132,500 to $177,600 per year, and in San Francisco is $138,500 to $185,600 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.