VP, Applications – Walt Disney Studios – Burbank (CA)

Job Description
The Walt Disney Company is world-class entertainment and technological leader. Walt’s passion was to continuously envision new ways to move audiences around the world—a passion that remains our touchstone in an enterprise that stretches from theme parks, resorts and a cruise line to sports, news, movies and a variety of other businesses. Uniting each endeavor is a commitment to creating and delivering unforgettable experiences — and we’re constantly looking for new ways to enhance these exciting experiences. Bring your individual talents here and discover for yourself why a career with Disney is the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

The Walt Disney Studios encompasses the creation, production, promotion, sales, acquisition and domestic and international distribution of live-action and animated motion pictures, DVD releases, live stage plays, and music and soundtrack recordings.

The Walt Disney Studios is seeking a VP, Applications.

We are currently looking for a VP, Applications to join the Business Solutions Engineering team. This position reports into the VP, Business Solutions Engineering and is based in Burbank, CA. The principle focus of the role includes Technology and Applications.

The Vice President, Applications, is responsible for managing a large applications team and delivering high quality solutions. He/She will lead a pool of shared resources, managing their capacity and deployment across projects to optimize impact to the business. This position requires an individual who is innovative and can mobilize matrixxed teams within a large company. The VP, Applications will collaborate with peers to develop IT solutions across a wide range of diverse businesses that will meet the individual client needs while rightsizing the overall Studio applications footprint and generating value for the client and Studio overall. This VP will manage Release Managers, Technical Business Analysts, Developers and Quality Assurance, and drive increased consistency and quality execution of deliverables and operational practices. He/She will introduce, build and utilize Agile methodologies within the department. Along with peers, the Vice President, Applications is accountable for developing an applications roadmap that optimizes the ROI on current and future solutions.

As a senior leader in the Business Solutions and Technology Engineering team, this role requires experience in operating shared services, driving cultural change within an IT department, supporting business transformation, active collaboration, agility, technical excellence and the successful delivery of technology solutions. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of effective execution, departmental transformation, solution ownership, relationship management, strategic planning, and matrix management, and must be able to demonstrate he/she has been a valued member of a team of peers and possesses the skills to effectively and positively influence others.

Responsibilities
Delivers application solutions per business requirements outlined by the Business Solutions and Technology Partner team and the Enterprise Architect
Manages a shared application delivery service consisting of Release Managers, Technical Business Analysts, Developers, and Quality Assurance
Manages a Business Intelligence Center of Excellence
Collaborate with the Business Solutions and Technology Partner team to analyze the existing systems portfolio for solution gaps and overlaps, as well as identify non-proprietary (i.e., not a competitive advantage or disadvantage) solutions that should leverage a shared service
Manage short/mid/long-range portfolio investment plans that classify systems by business value, technical maturity (e.g., re-fresh, replacement or retirement) and support the technology roadmap
Mange the workload of shared resources within the team so capacities are optimized
Provide leadership of teams, including on-going performance and development management
Ensure Applications team adhere to Studio IT operating and governance practices
Ensure Application teams leverage efficient and effective development practices, inclusive of Waterfall and Agile methodologies
Develops and manages an objective and autonomous QA function
Provides project oversight and management
Manage and communicate priorities and status to all levels of the IT organization and the business
Provide timely and accurate information on solution and request status
Foster collaborative relationships with technology leadership throughout the Studio, TWDC, and with key suppliers to influence decision-making and accomplish business objectives
Instill and foster innovative solution development
Align solutions and capabilities with business priorities, and effectively lead teams through implementation of solutions
Integrate business initiatives and technology to innovate and achieve a competitive advantage
Collaborate with other technology groups to identify overlaps and minimize redundancy
Keep senior management abreast of issues, trends, products, delivery solutions, and provide concise summaries of the findings
Lead successful application projects
Lead hands-on evaluations of solutions
Determine technologies trends and predict their impact on the business
Represent The Walt Disney Studio in selected standards and organizations
Regularly reviews and refreshes the operating processes of the Applications department for improvement

Measurements of Success:
Current Application footprint is reduced and new Applications are implemented that add additional value to the Business
Better Applications are delivered faster and at the right price
Department is resourced appropriately to fulfill needs of the Business
Application resources support multiple Applications
Business has a clear and consistent understanding of priorities
Agile methodology is widely adopted and delivering successfully

Basic Qualifications
15+ years experience in management of IT resources, IT projects/support, business applications/systems and strategic planning
Demonstrates and enterprise perspective on solution development to add value to the Studio overall
Strong leadership, management and experience in supporting organizational change within a large organization
Ability to motivate matrixxed teams to produce quality results within challenging time frames and ongoing change
Effective communication, collaboration and interpersonal skills
Experience with implementation of complex application implementations and integrations in a large company
Exceptional teamwork and leadership skills
Ability to define technical requirements and transform into quality deliverables
Project budget preparation and management
Ability to influence third party products roadmaps and features
Ability to perform hands-on technology and platforms evaluations
A proven track record of engaging with industry partners
Expertise in strategy development and presentation to management
Ability to translate industry trends into product offerings
Possess an in-depth technical knowledge of IP solutions

Personal characteristics:
Strong interpersonal and communication skills
Effective communicator across all levels of the organization
Ability to represent company interests with outside customers and vendors in a succinct and articulate manner
Pro-active and possess a hands-on, collaborative working style
Excellent listener and negotiator, possessing good judgment and business acumen with the willingness and determination to operate effectively within a challenging, dynamic and rapidly changing and growing environment
Self confident, honest and open
Self-starter with the ability to strive in an existing albeit entrepreneurial environment
Strong analytical skills
Action oriented with high standard for quality and performance
Excellent orientation to both the details and the bigger picture
High energy, sensitive and charismatic
Personal disposition and a direct style that is compatible with the company’s senior management
Strong leadership and management skills
Ability to rapidly assimilate and summarize information from disparate sources
Team player but posses the ability to work autonomously

Preferred Education
An advanced degree is desirable

Required Education
Bachelor’s degree in information technology or business administration

Additional Information
This position is with Walt Disney Pictures.

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Posted by Jakomi Mathews on Jun 10 2012. Filed under Jobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.