Job Description

Senior Manager, Immersive Production Technology

The Senior Manager, Immersive Production Technology (IPT) is a highly influential and visible role combining strategic planning, program management, production management, and process improvement for the Immersive Production Technology group. The IPT’s charter is to leverage innovative XR-based tools and platforms to develop better ways to make our movies today and invent new ways to tell our stories tomorrow. Our team is now positioned as the Immersive center-of-excellence at Studios and this role is responsible for the strategy, development, and production of Immersive Experiences and Tools.

With the increased focus on Next-Gen Storytelling, the Senior Manager IPT is a highly strategic role and is responsible for navigating partnerships with executives to pitch, sell, and deliver projects. The role will interface directly with creative teams (writers, illustrators, creative directors, VFX supervisors, marketing, and franchise) to extend our story telling into AR/VR experiences. The Sr. Manager is responsible for strategizing and communicating what and why we’re creating tool/experiences; partnering with Technology and Creative partners in setting goals and charting progress and identifying and onboarding developers and vendors to support the work.

Responsibilities:

Core Pillars

• Operations & Leadership – 30%
• Immersive Experiences – 30%
• AR/VR Production Tools – 20%
• Digital Backlot – 20%

Strategic Planning/Program Management

• Drive the planning and development of a slate of Immersive Experiences and New Tools for Studios
• Innovate and incubate bold ideas that will be brought to life working with IPT Senior Producers for next generation story telling at Studios by partnering directly with Filmmakers and Studio Executives

Production Management

• Lead Production for the IPT portfolio, overseeing new product/experience development, business strategy, planning, forecasting, and product launch across multiple concurrent projects
• Direct cross-functional teams in the development of projects across the IPT portfolio, managing projects and logistics for team members including technologists, 3d artists and programmers
• Talent casting and development in support of all Creative & Technical Deliverables across the life cycle of the project, including contract negotiation with outside specialists

Partnership Building

• Continues to grow a wide network of contacts across TWDC and externally via academic/industrial partners, vendors, VFX Houses, etc.
• Forge and maintain a strong trusted relationship between IPT and Studio Partners

Managerial Skills

• Oversight of IPT’s AOP/finances and Legal/contracts/BA
• Important role in hiring and staffing decisions.

Basic Qualifications:

• Real-world experience managing projects in one or more of the following areas:
• Real-Time Graphics
• Virtual and Augmented Reality
• Real-Time Filmmaking
• Advanced Render & Compute
• Mobile Device Development
• Media and Entertainment industry experience
• Prior experience managing outside vendors, including contracts bid and award process and setting acceptance criteria
• Proven record of accomplishment building and maintaining relationships with senior management, stakeholders, and team members
• Strategy and planning; ability to synthesize and articulate ambiguous concepts effectively; engages in collaborative discussion and prioritization
• Executive presence and related communication skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, to technical and non-technical audiences
• Excellent people management skills, including the ability to influence and achieve results through others who are not direct reports
• Entrepreneurial mindset, proactive thinker with the ability to thrive in an often ambiguous, fast paced environment while navigating a complex matrixed organizational structure while delivering results
• Action oriented with high standard for quality and performance.
• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Education:

• Master’s in Business Administration or equivalent work experience