Manager, Software Engineering

Job Summary: 

At Disney Experiences Technology, we design and deliver more than 400 digital and physical products that bring Disney stories to life in unexpected ways. From theme parks and resorts to cruise ships and beyond, our global team of technologists, designers, and innovators creates seamless, immersive experiences that delight millions of Guests and Cast Members around the world. 

The Disney Signature Experiences and Data team delivers innovative technology solutions across Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, and our global tour businesses. We support Guest and Crew experiences at sea, enable commercial growth through digital platforms, and lead the segment’s data strategy. With a strong focus on reliability, scalability, and strategic expansion, we build the systems that support immersive experiences and unlock new opportunities for growth. 

Disney Cruise Line – This role is on the Disney Cruise Line team, which delivers shipboard Guest and Crew systems, commercial platforms, web and app experiences, and infrastructure operations that support seamless journeys at sea. 

The Manager, Software Engineering will report to the Sr. Manager, Software Engineering.

About The Role & Team:

This role will manage part of the Disney Cruise Line Mobile Navigator and supporting services. The engineering team covers multiple disciplines from mobile development, web development to backend services and database support and the manager needs to have experience those areas.  The team develops custom solutions for deployment to the cloud and on-premise data centers on the ships. 

The candidate must possess the ability to share and communicate ideas clearly, both orally and in writing, to business sponsors and partners, technical resources, and executives, in clear concise language that is the effective for each respective group.

The Manager must be able to manage competing priorities between Capital and Expense initiatives including application stability (incidents), security vulnerabilities and remediation, problem solutions and new business capabilities.  An ability to balance technology and business priorities is key for this role.

What You’ll Do:  

• Oversee finances and budgets in MyPPM, ensure accurate billing processes, and contribute to forecasting and accrual processes to maintain financial integrity and support organizational objectives  

• Manage an engineering team responsible for analyzing, designing, programming, debugging, and enhancing software solutions used in various computing environments

• Supervise delivery optimization of large-scale or sophisticated software programs and systems, collaborating multi-functionally to align with business goals and timelines

• Coordinate, evaluate, and lead external vendor relationships, acting as the key point of contact, and ensuring contractual obligations are met

• Proactively find opportunities for technology optimization and efficiency improvements, driving innovation and scalability

• Craft and build a roadmap for delivering a world class support model and ensure ongoing health and performance of technology solutions

• Review, augment, and build critical metrics for responsible systems, using visualization tools

• Engage in estimation and planning across the organization, voicing recommendations, feedback, and solutions from a technical perspective and aligning to the overall project goals to deliver on-time & in-scope

• Proactively track and assess emerging technologies across the industry to inform strategic decision-making and recommendations

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum 8 years of related work experience

• Excellent communication and leadership abilities, to ensure effective growth and development of team

• Deep understanding of Object-Oriented Analysis, Design and Development

• Experience with software delivery lifecycle, including web and mobile application development, backend service development, and multi-vendor environments

• Experience with Java/J2EE architectures and cloud-based architected systems and platforms (i.e. AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) along with on-premises architectures for ship deployments.

• Experience leading and recruiting technical teams, including software engineers, system and platform engineers, software architects, and technical project managers

• Experience with Agile development approaches

• Proven experience in monitoring, supporting, and improving application availability and reliability

• A visionary who motivates teams to excel and fosters creativity, consistently driving excellence in all endeavors

• An advocate for a diverse and inclusive culture that encourages innovation and ensures every team member feels a sense of belonging

• Authority in monitoring and production support for mobile and backend services, applying expertise to drive the development and implementation of data solutions to provide visibility into guest experiences

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to assist the engineering team architect, deliver and troubleshoot code when necessary

• Previous experience in the cruise line industry

• Experience implementing AI/GenAI to increase efficiency in development and production support

Required Education:

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