Sr. Manager, Workplace Experience

About the Team & Role

DTC offers premium streaming services with Hulu, a premium streaming service that offers originals, current season TV, a massive library of hit series and movies, and live television. It also offers Disney+, the Disney-branded streaming service featuring an incomparable collection of content from its brands and franchises recognized and respected all over the world including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Disney, and NatGeo. Our DTC team is looking for impactful team-players to join the team, who will thrive upon the legacy of Disney and Hulu, embrace unconventional thinking, and who are passionate about contributing to The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) experience through strategic hard work and determination.

The Senior Manager, Workplace Experience will serve as lead of the Workplace Experience (WE) teams in Santa Monica and Glendale, leading our efforts in creating inspiring, inclusive and efficient work environments across our two campuses. Reporting into the VP, Partnerships Strategic Planning, the WE team is a highly dynamic group focused on enabling business needs and culture for all tenants in the Santa Monica and Glendale campuses, ensuring implementation and smooth operations of backend and frontend systems, as well as serving as office liaison to business functions and employees alike in close coordination with our business partners across the organization.

As the lead of the cross-campus WE team, the Sr. Manager oversees workplace management teams in Santa Monica and Glendale campuses, ensuring seamless operations and a top-tier employee experience. This role is responsible for strategic oversight, high-level problem-solving, collaboration with cross-functional teams as well as liaisoning with senior business unit stakeholders and tenants, both within the DTC organizations and outside, to support the day-to-day operations and long-term planning for office environments.

This role requires exceptional stakeholder management, communication and leadership skills, a general customer service mindset as well as the drive to get stuff done and oscillate/differentiate between urgent matters needing prompt attention (such as e.g. an immediate maintenance issue) and longer term projects or programs requiring careful navigation of stakeholders and company policies (such as process design for e.g. campus-wide emergency policy and communications). The right person will be a hands-on everyday leader that simultaneously functions as the face of the campuses for employees, BU leaders, service orgs and guests.

What You Will Do

Strategic Leadership and stakeholder management - Develop and implement the long-term workplace experience strategy for the campuses in collaboration with internal stakeholders:

• Act as the primary liaison between and trusted advisor to senior business leaders, other service organizations, building management as well as external vendors and coordinate appropriate information flow and escalations between stakeholders, e.g. for major projects such as space planning, build outs or security concerns.
• Act as a regional ambassador for company-wide workplace initiatives and translate workplace policies into tailored, location-specific programs that align with the unique needs and culture of each office while maintaining consistency with corporate objectives.
• Coordinate with property management as central site-specific POC.
• Provide high-level oversight of the Workplace Management Ticketing System, leveraging data insights and strategic judgment to address issues and propose alternative solutions, ensuring seamless change management for enterprise initiatives where necessary and enhancing the overall workplace experience through efficient IT solutions.
• Create welcoming, safe and engaging environments that reflect our values and foster employee satisfaction and collaboration, incl. building out the WE team as central POC for all office-related questions & concerns, triaging and redirecting to respective teams and staffing & managing central employee and guest touchpoints such as main reception.

Business enablement - Oversee day-to-day operations of our physical offices, ensuring seamless facilities, front desk, food/beverage and vendor services:

• Oversee all facility management activities, ensuring the seamless operation of multiple buildings and proactive maintenance planning, incl overall operations of the SM campus and coordination with Global Security team, crisis management leadership for on the ground response, badge access management for employees, visitors and vendors as well as coordination of preventative and emergency maintenance and repairs.
• Lead vendor management and strategy for LA-based sites, negotiating key contracts, managing relationships and optimizing purchasing decisions and project needs, incl. furniture maintenance and offsite storage management, overall office supply and snack program, management of office attendants, kitchen equipment repairs and restocking.
• Oversee West Coast workplace experience finances, including budget planning and forecasting and invoice processing and cost management, driving efficiency across all workplace-related operations.
• Lead IT peripherals purchasing for all West Coast DTC teams.

Culture & Celebration - Proactively champion a positive workplace culture, continuously evaluating and implementing best practices to elevate employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity:

• Manage high-impact programs such as food and beverage services and employee events, strategically enhancing workplace culture and well-being.
• Shape and reinforce office identity by unifying the distinct cultures of various business units into a cohesive, localized office culture.
• Lead the development and implementation of site-wide communications, ensuring alignment with corporate communication teams and effectively engaging employees across all levels while reflecting both corporate and local values.

Team leadership:

• Lead and mentor workplace management teams across multiple locations, ensuring consistent service delivery and operational excellence in alignment with broader business objectives.
• Accountable for schedule and workload management of office attendant staff.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• BA/BS Degree or equivalent relevant experience
• 8+ years of professional experience in relevant fields, such as Workplace Experience, office operations, facilities, corporate services or similar, of those at least 4+ years in a management or senior-level position
• Demonstrated experience in managing large-scale facilities operations teams, with a deep understanding of system and program implementation, standard operating procedures, and employee service excellence.
• Strong project management and vendor management skillset; ability to manage complex initiatives from concept to execution
• Extensive experience with workplace management systems, Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and Google Workspace (Google Sheets, Google Docs)
• Passion for people, culture and employee wellbeing and an innate emotional intelligence with a proven ability to perceive needs, issues, and preferences of others
• Proven ability to think strategically and deliver solutions in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with strong problem-solving skills and a focus on achieving organizational goals.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with a proficiency in preparing high-level, professional documentation, including memos, reports, and correspondence.
• Strong initiative and a willingness to get things done with urgency and accuracy.
• Ability to manage multiple requests, stay organized, exercise judgment and prioritize in a fast-paced environment.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with a track record of delivering high-quality service and support to diverse stakeholder groups across all organizational levels.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in enterprise software solutions such as SAP and Workday

Disability accommodation for employment applications

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, email Candidate.Accommodations@Disney.com with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

The Walt Disney Company is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, California is $152,800.00 - $186,600.00 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.