Director, Platform & Infrastructure

Director of Platform and Infrastructure

Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS)

At WDAS, we believe creativity drives technology, and technology empowers creativity. The Director of Platform and Infrastructure will lead multiple specialties and teams to design and manage core infrastructure while building scalable and secure solutions for animation production. Reporting to the VP of Technology, this role is vital for maintaining Disney’s technological edge and ensuring infrastructure reliability, flexibility, and efficiency to support filmmakers, overhead personnel, and artists. This role is ideal for a visionary leader passionate about leveraging technology to empower creativity at one of the most iconic animation studios in the world.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership

• Develop vision, strategy, and leadership for scalable and secure infrastructure initiatives.
• Oversee infrastructure for rendering, storage, networking, databases, workstation builds, configuration management, and collaboration tools.
• Provide direction to senior managers and managers across multiple specialties and departments.
• Mentor, provide feedback, guide career development, and recruit and retain engineering talent.

Strategy & Planning

• Create and execute a strategic roadmap for scalable, automated, and flexible infrastructure.
• Lead the strategy, architecture plan, and provisioning of core compute, storage, and network systems.
• Ensure the reliability, scalability, quality and performance of Disney's platform and infrastructure.
• Develop long-term enhancement plans to meet business and creative objectives.

Operations

• Deliver engineering initiatives on time and within budget.
• Optimize render farm usage, analytics, and compute predictability.
• Enhance the predictability, efficiency, reliability, and transparency of infrastructure for production teams.
• Oversee the implementation of innovative technologies to enhance operational efficiency.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to optimize processes and systems.

Security & Sustainability

• Ensure operational stability, performance, and data protection within the infrastructure as.
• Drive towards high standards of engineering excellence to ensure the infrastructure's robustness and reliability
• Drive ongoing cybersecurity improvements and align with cultural and workflow needs.
• Monitor and manage the performance of the platform and infrastructure, ensuring high availability and security.

Collaboration & Communication

• Foster trust and transparency & a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence within the team
• Participate in clear direction, proactive communication, and healthy collaboration between all groups involved with Platform and Infrastructure initiatives to deliver integrated solutions.
• Work closely with the Production Technology software team, focusing on rendering strategy, service-oriented pipeline infrastructure, and internal software development practices.
• Build relationships with corporate technology partners, key external technology partners, and 3rd party vendors.
• Influence and collaborate with senior leaders internally and externally to align strategies and priorities.

Financial Oversight

• Manage infrastructure budgets, including cloud costs and vendor negotiations.
• Drive cost efficiencies in storage, network, cloud utilization, and compute platforms.
• Work with the Finance team to plan, track costs, and enhance cost models.

Requirements:

• 12+ years in infrastructure/platform roles at a large-scale production studio or similar company; 
• 5+ years managing technical teams.
• Proven record of strategic planning and successful project delivery with multiple stakeholders.
• Proven leadership, mentorship, and collaboration skills.
• Excellent communicator with strong analytical and problem-solving skills, resulting in strategic decision-making capabilities.
• Excellent understanding of platform and infrastructure technologies.
• Knowledge of cloud technologies and infrastructure management.
• Experience with performance monitoring and optimization.
• Experience in managing multiple technology specialties and departments.
• Understanding of security best practices in infrastructure management.
• Experience in budgeting, cost optimization, and cloud services.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications & Experience:

• Experience in a similar leadership role within a large organization
• Familiarity with Disney's technological landscape and infrastructure
• Advanced certifications in cloud technologies or infrastructure management

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• Relevant certifications in platform and infrastructure management