Lead Data Governance Analyst

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engi

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.

Ad Platforms is responsible for Disney’s industry-leading ad technology and products – driving advertising performance, innovation, and value in Disney’s sports, news, and entertainment content, across all media platforms.

Job Summary:

Disney’s Ad Platforms group is seeking a Data Governance Analyst, Data Compliance to drive enhancement and expansion of Advertising Platforms (Ads) corporate and data governance compliance functions across our data-driven advertising ecosystem. In this role, you will apply domain expertise to ensure compliance initiatives support corporate and Adverting Platforms requirements through cross-group partnership and creative problem-solving with a focus on streamlining and identifying opportunities to automate new and existing processes. These responsibilities are critical to ensuring our advertising technology platforms remain compliant with regulatory and corporate compliance directives.

This position is ideal for an experienced compliance professional with a strong background in advertising technology, regulatory frameworks, and audit best practices, who thrives in complex, cross-functional environments.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Partner with corporate compliance, corporate audit, and Ads functions to collect new requirements as they arise, develop plans to assess capabilities, and oversee implementation of process, technology, and data governance programs to streamline, enhance, and automate data governance and reporting objectives.
• Identify, prioritize, and oversee implementation of compliance-enhancing opportunities.
• Drive implementation and sustainment of next-generation Compliance Management platform.
• Develop, deploy, and oversee program and project tracking mechanism to organize Data Governance, Compliance, Risk, Privacy, and Audit activities and dependencies.
• Drive implementation and integration of automated data lineage and data catalog functions.
• Manage and drive adoption of Records/Information Management processes, standardization, and reporting across Ads ecosystem.
• Manage data minimization efforts to reduce risk profile across Disney’s streaming ecosystem.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering organizations to refine and provide training and support for privacy and compliance by design campaigns.
• Support enhancements to policies and directives relating to governance and compliance topics.
• Partner with Data Owners/Stewards, and Fleet/Squad leads who are responsible for data ownership, classification, and metadata management of our data products and platforms, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and Data Governance policies.
• Support information security and data anonymization efforts across Ad Platforms.
• Perform and lead related compliance assessment activities and partner with corporate compliance teams to represent Ads in respective steering committees and working groups.
• Provide subject matter guidance and influence technical engineering decisions within Advertising projects and initiatives, to promote data governance and compliance concepts and techniques early in the project lifecycle.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

YOU MUST…   

• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Computer Science, Public Policy, International Business, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in compliance, audit, data governance, privacy, or risk management, preferably in Ad Tech, Streaming, or Digital Media.
• Outstanding verbal, written, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively interact with all levels of management. This includes active listening, understanding stakeholder needs, managing expectations, conflict resolution, and delivering high-quality service to foster trust and satisfaction.
• Proven experience prioritizing efforts based on value, feasibility, and dependencies within a dynamic delivery environment.
• Excellent follow-up skills and the ability to take initiative, as well as a proactive problem-solving approach, leveraging critical thinking and analytical skills to develop innovative solutions.
• Proficiency in compliance automation, audit tracking tools, and regulatory reporting.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION/SKILLS

• Prior experience with data onboarding, data activation, or data lifecycle management.
• Certifications such as CGRC, CGEIT, or CISSP.
• Experience in the Media & Entertainment field, and/or consulting.
• Familiarity with cloud-based data platforms (AWS, GCP), data pipelines (Airflow), and governance tools (Semarchy, Alation, Unity, etc.).
• Hands-on experience with Snowflake and Databricks environments.
• Knowledge of any of the following: Python, SQL, AWS, GitHub.
• Experience with a reporting tool such as Tableau or Looker.
• Familiarity with Artificial Intelligence privacy strategies.

BONUS EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION/SKILLS

• Experience with advertising measurement frameworks, attribution modeling, and ad fraud mitigation.
• Demonstrated ability to embed privacy-by-design in machine learning, personalization, or audience segmentation initiatives.
• IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) Intermediate or Advanced certifications.
• Certifications in agile software development methodologies (PMI-ACP, CSPO, SAFe PO/PM, ICP-ACC, etc.)
• Other advanced product, platform, or agile courses/certifications.
• Proficiency in compliance automation, audit tracking tools, and regulatory reporting.

The hiring range for this position in California is $138,900 to $186,200 per year based on a 40 hour work week. The amount of hours scheduled per week may vary based on business needs. 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.