Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Architect

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.

We are redefining how streaming media is delivered, experienced, and scaled across a global ecosystem. From live and linear streaming to VOD workflows, advertising integrations, metadata platforms, and playback clients, our mission is to build a cohesive, high-performing media platform that powers world-class viewer experiences.

We are seeking a Principal Software Architect to operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, shaping end-to-end solutions across the Media Engineering ecosystem. This role is not confined to a single domain. You will architect systems that span ingest, processing, orchestration, distribution, and playback across platforms such as Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN.

This is a hands-on architecture role for a technical leader who can define vision, influence at scale, and dive deep into code and design when needed.

What You'll Do

• Define and drive end-to-end solution architecture across Live, Linear, and VOD streaming workflows.
• Establish architectural patterns that unify media ingest, processing, metadata, ads, distribution, and playback ecosystems.
• Lead cross-domain design for integrations with Ad platforms, metadata services, rights systems, and client applications.
• Contribute to long-term technical strategy, ensuring scalability, resiliency, and cost efficiency across the media supply chain.

• Partner with Engineering, Product, Program Management, and stakeholders teams to deliver cohesive platform solutions.
• Influence technical direction across multiple teams and organizations without direct authority.
• Lead architecture reviews, drive alignment, and resolve complex cross-system challenges.

• Design and document high-scale, distributed systems supporting millions of concurrent streams and global content distribution.
• Contribute to implementation where necessary, including prototyping, coding, and validating architectural decisions.
• Author clear architectural artifacts including solution designs, system diagrams, and technical proposals.

• Champion best practices in observability, reliability, performance optimization, and cost management.
• Guide teams in building resilient systems with strong SLAs/SLOs.
• Use metrics and data to continuously improve system performance and user experience.

• Challenge existing architectures and introduce modern approaches to evolving platform capabilities.
• Stay ahead of industry trends in streaming technologies, ad tech, and media workflows.
• Drive iterative improvements across systems, workflows, and developer experience.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with significant time in architecture and distributed systems design.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience
• Proven experience designing and scaling high-throughput, low-latency systems in a cloud environment.
• Strong proficiency in one or more languages such as Java, Python, or similar.
• Deep understanding of microservices architecture, event-driven systems, and API design.
• Experience with AWS or similar cloud platforms, including services such as S3, DynamoDB, Kinesis, SNS/SQS, or Kafka.
• Strong foundation in data modeling, system design, and performance optimization.
• Ability to write production-quality code and contribute hands-on when needed.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with media streaming systems, including Live, Linear, and VOD workflows.
• Knowledge of video delivery protocols (HLS, DASH), encoding/transcoding pipelines, and CDN distribution.
• Experience with media player and client integrations for video playback
• Familiarity with Ad Tech ecosystems, including SSAI, and ad decisioning systems.
• Experience working with player/client technologies across web, mobile, and connected devices.
• Exposure to machine learning applications in media workflows (e.g., content enrichment, personalization).
• Prior experience operating in a large-scale streaming platform environment.

What Sets You Apart

• You think in systems, not silos, and can connect architecture across domains.
• You balance vision with execution, capable of both defining strategy and delivering outcomes.
• You are a force multiplier, elevating teams through influence, clarity, and technical leadership.
• You are comfortable operating in ambiguity and driving alignment across complex organizations.

Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity.

The hiring range for this position in NY, NY is $197,400 to $264,700 per year and in Santa Monica, CA is $188,400 to $252,600 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.

About Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology:

At Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, we're blending imagination and innovation to reimagine the ways people experience and engage with the world's most beloved stories and products. Our work is wide-ranging and deeply sophisticated. We create amazing experiences, transform the future of media, and build products and platforms that enable the connection between people everywhere and the stories and sports they love.

Disney's ability to marry world-class technology with one-of-a-kind creativity makes us unique. It is at the heart of our past, present, and future. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney's stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.

Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. 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.

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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, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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