Lead Portfolio Analyst

Job Summary:

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally.

The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world. 

Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come. Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally.  Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

The Business Operations team helps guide and articulate technology strategy and research, and is responsible for driving the day-to-day operation of the Product & Technology organization, including: project and portfolio management and tracking; organization-level capital, space, and resource management and allocation; process management; technical incident management; and our administrative and workplace experience support team.

Scope of Responsibility:

The Portfolio Management group oversees the Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology (DEEP&T) portfolio strategy and processes for capital and expense. The Lead Portfolio Analyst is responsible for developing and maintaining projects for DEEP&T’s alignment to evolving business priorities and changing budgetary requirements. This role collaborates closely with Global Program Management (GPM), Strategic Planning and Senior Business Leaders to maximize benefits for project reporting and consolidation.

The Lead Portfolio Analyst reports to and receives directions from the Manager / Senior Manager / Director, Portfolio Management.

Essential Functions:

1. Strategic Portfolio & Financial Planning

• Participate in creating the Capital Portfolio of work and the Capital Budget.
• Work with stakeholders to collect, build, and validate Long Range Plan, Annual Budget, and Quarterly Forecast information.
• Proactively gather and validate necessary inputs from the Alliances to support portfolio capital planning and execution, including forecast and current month allocations.
• Perform evaluations and analysis of the active portfolio to ensure alignment with business goals and budgets.
• Proactively identify financial trends, recommend adjustments, and signal potential issues.
• Conduct scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of shifting priorities, budget changes, or resource constraints on the portfolio.

2. Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Serve as the primary liaison between the Portfolio and Alliances teams/tools to ensure seamless collaboration and alignment.
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to gather necessary inputs and provide actionable insights or documentation as needed.
• Support ad-hoc initiatives with various alliances to ensure foundational financial readiness and respond to ad-hoc requests from leadership and supported alliances with a focus on speed, accuracy, and clarity.
• Prioritize incoming requests based on urgency, business impact, and deadlines, ensuring timely and high-quality deliverables.
• Communicate regularly with Accounting and Finance departments.
• Maintain regular communications with Portfolio Management team, peers, and DEEP&T managers.
• Act as a change agent to promote adoption of best practices across DEEP&T teams.

3. Reporting & Governance

• Ensure all relevant workstreams are accurately documented and categorized between Capital and Expense in compliance with TWDC Policies.
• Drive and maintain the capital project approval process.
• Generate detailed project reports for stakeholders; ensure completeness, accuracy, and timeliness.

4. Operational Execution

• Perform monthly resource allocations reclass from expense to capital.
• Perform monthly capital accruals.
• Review procurement of goods and services for policy alignment and budget compliance.
• Assist the Fixed Assets team in asset capitalization and confirm project details.
• Identify and implement enhancements to portfolio management tools, templates, and workflows to improve efficiency and data accuracy.
• Track and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) for portfolio health, financial performance, and delivery effectiveness.

5. Compliance & Risk Management

• Assure compliance with tax, legal, asset accounting, and TWDC policies and procedures.
• Proactively resolve issues related to the portfolio or budget.
• Escalate issues as appropriate.
• Facilitate post-mortem reviews to assess financial and strategic outcomes.

6. Tools & Technical Proficiency

• Use Airtable, Microsoft Excel, Power Query and other MS Office tools for analysis and reporting.
• Familiarity with SAP and PowerBI for financial tracking and visualization.

Required Qualifications:

• BS/BA in Business or related field.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills, including expertise in Microsoft Excel, Power Query as well as other MS Office programs.
• Thorough understanding and experience with Portfolio Management and Project Accounting concepts and practices.
• Familiarity with corporate accounting software such as SAP and Airtable is a plus.
• Minimum 7+ years experience.