Programmatic Operations Manager

About the Team Disney Advertising

The Disney Advertising portfolio covers world leading brands within The Walt Disney Company's entertainment segment and related film, television, and streaming businesses. This includes family favorites Disney, Pixar, Marvel, & Lucasfilm, general entertainment networks like ABC, Hulu , ESPN, National Geographic, and our flagship streaming product, Disney+.

Within the Disney Advertising EMEA organization , the Business Operations team serves as the core regional sales support group, ensuring strategic alignment and operational efficiency across the region . Key functions include media planning & campaign management (Client Services), ad tech & vendor oversight (Specialized Operations ) and forecasting & reporting (Revenue & Yield Management). These teams define policies, build processes, enable capabilities, and manage daily workflows that support Sales success.

The Programmatic Operations Manager will play a pivotal role within the London-based EMEA Ad Sales organization , supporting our increasing ly automated and addressable streaming video business. Collaborating closely with Sales, Operations, Technology, & Legal teams, the role’s primary objective will be to drive revenue growth by triaging programmatic issues and escalations, enhancing operational workflows, and deepening relationships with our ad tech partners.

The work broadly covers two key areas of responsibility:
1) programmatic escalation support to enable efficient campaign delivery and
2) ad tech partner management to maintain and enhance relationships and capabilities. In the former, the role will act as the first point of contact for escalations, troubleshooting programmatic issues whilst providing subject matter expertise to both internal and external contacts. In the latter, the role is expected to build and maintain strong relationships with external ad tech partners and Disney’s internal Ad Platforms team , improving our capabilities and processes.

Success is defined as automated and addressable revenue growth in our streaming video business, underpinned by scalable, sustainable support mechanisms.

The candidate will bring deep expertise in the ad tech ecosystem and a strong understanding of the wider advertising and media industry . As a skilled relationship manager, they will also confidently represent Disney Advertising to external partners and collaborate effectively across internal cross-functional teams . The ideal candidate will be comfortable working independently on complex technical challenges and engaging at a senior level, presenting to leaders or helping to negotiate legal and commercial terms.

A strong commitment to user experience and compliance is essential, including familiarity with GDPR, consent management platforms, and evolving privacy standards. The candidate will also stay ahead of industry trends, particularly the convergence of digital and linear advertising, positioning Disney at the forefront of the streaming video space.

This is an office-based role. 4 days working in the Hammersmith, London office with 1 day working from home (Monday or Friday).

• Provide front line support to EMEA campaign management teams for issue intake and troubleshooting of both managed service campaigns and programmatic deals
• Diagnose and resolve ad delivery, ad quality, and technical issues, liaising with global Ad Platforms Technology teams as needed
• Manage and maintain relationships with ad tech vendors in EMEA, releasing new capabilities, improving operational efficiency, and driving revenue growth
• Represent Ad Sales in compliance discussions with Legal & Privacy
• Build and nurture relationships with key internal stakeholders across regions and business lines
• Collaborate with global teams and act as a regional center of programmatic advertising excellence for other EMEA offices, providing training and documentation for Sales and Operational personnel
• Maintain a comprehensive understanding of Disney’s ad tech stack and industry developments

• Proven 5+yrs experience in the advertising sector, either publisher/agency side…