Lead Product Manager

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“We Power the Magic!” That’s our motto at Disney Experiences (DX) Technology & Digital. Our team creates world-class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands including Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club.

We're currently seeking a passionate Lead Product Manager to join our  New Resort Initiatives team. In this role, you'll lead the delivery of new resort build initiatives that include major refurbishments, rebrands and new builds that are sure to delight our guest resort experiences.

We are seeking a proactive, results-driven Lead Product Manager with an expertise for creating and executing a product vision.  This role involves leading critical initiatives like automated room assignment, automating new resort builds, housekeeping automation and more.  If you thrive on taking ownership, driving action, and contributing ensuring that our resort guest experience is both seamless and magical, we want to hear from you! 

What You'll Do: 

• Develop and manage the product vision and roadmap for two distinct groups of products.
• Provide guidance and direction to junior product managers within the Resort Technology organization including building roadmaps and preparing executive level status and communication.
• Serve as a passionate advocate for the products, both internally and externally while educating stakeholders and customers about product features, benefits, and value propositions. 
• Conduct market research to understand industry trends, competitive landscape, and customer needs. 
• Build short and long term budget estimates to execute on roadmap  
• Execute discovery work for a resort build, refurbishment or rebrand that includes engaging appropriate technology teams for estimates and defining initial resort details.
• Execute discovery work for a suite of resort related applications, taking lead on expanding the existing products for the next level cast and guest facing application experiences.
• Lead requirement-gathering, user story creation, user acceptance criteria, prioritization, execution and overall product direction with cross-functional teams, ensuring consistent communication with peers and leadership. 
• Collaborate with assigned solution architects to provide solution design for architecture discussions, and prepare technical specifications including sequence diagrams, wireframes, and process engineering documents.
• Collaborate with assigned solution architect and tech leads to define data translation between systems, including data conversion strategies and attribute definitions for APIs, integrations, and configurations.
• Write detailed functional specs to be used by developers for technical implementations, guiding them through the high-level architecture of the product.
• Facilitate scope definition, cross-functional estimates and high-level planning sessions.
• Document key assumptions and dependencies established through estimation activities.
• Manage product discussions to gain alignment and act as a gatekeeper & negotiator in order to prioritize with our business, product, and technology partners, managing technical discussions to drive alignment. 
• Define and monitor key performance metrics to track product performance while identifying areas for optimization that drive continuous improvement initiatives. 
• Proactively identify potential risks, dependencies, and mitigation strategies to program timelines.
• Prepare and present high-level plan with estimates for executives and cross-functional leaders.
• Prepare and present budget requirements to key stakeholders and leadership.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders and cross-functional collaborators, including product, tech and digital, design, sales, marketing, finance, resorts and support teams. 
• Coordinate and communicate product releases and updates, ensuring timely delivery and smooth deployment. 

Required Qualifications & Skills: 

• Minimum of 7 years of related work experience as a Product Manager within a large and matrix organization, with a proven ability to drive product delivery from concept to execution.
• Working knowledge and experience with managing budgets, budget allocations, forecasting and estimating.
• Comfortable when communicating with executive level (Directors, VPs, SVPs) in presentations, working sessions, and 1-on-1 interactions.
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC) and expertise in building product roadmaps.
• Demonstrated ability to be the communication bridge between technical and non-technical teams, translating business needs into technical requirements.
• Advanced skill in writing business, technical, and functional requirements, ensuring clarity and precision in all documentation.
• Experience with solution design, writing specs, wireframing, and creating sequence diagrams to translate product vision into actionable technical deliverables.
• Strong technical background with the ability to lead complex initiatives spanning multiple teams and functional areas.
• Proven experience with APIs, integrations, configurations, and working with technical components to deliver functional designs and capability mapping.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and collaboration tools like Jira, Smartsheet, and Confluence.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to motivate, influence, and drive teams to successful outcomes.
• Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively, maintaining high levels of productivity.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field with at least 7 years relevant experience.
• Experience in the hospitality or lodging industry.
• Familiarity with Resort Operations and Disney Vacation Club including an understanding of the domain.
• Experience with Agile development methodologies.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree and/or related work experience (7+ years).

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