Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer

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 seeking a Lead Software Engineer who is passionate about observability tooling, data, and integrations. In this role, you will own and lead the design and delivery of multi-component systems that support how engineering teams collect, analyze, and act on critical system data. You will set architectural direction and partner with engineers across teams to deliver solutions that enhance visibility into systems, support the development lifecycle, and improve reliability and performance.

This role is expected to leverage modern AI tools to enhance development workflows and productivity, and to drive their adoption across the team. We are looking for engineers who can evaluate and apply emerging technologies in practical ways across the engineering lifecycle.

If you're passionate about observability, analytics, and leading teams through complex technical problems, we'd love to hear from you.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Own and lead the development of multi-component solutions that support observability tools, data pipelines, and engineering systems.
• Set architectural direction and drive cross-team collaboration to deliver large-scope solutions that improve system monitoring, data collection, and analysis.
• Establish and champion practices for AI-assisted development that improve engineering efficiency and workflow productivity across teams.
• Plan, break down, and document technical and operational requirements for engineering data models and integrations, enabling parallel execution across multiple teams.
• Lead the resolution of critical issues and root cause analysis, accounting for the implications of design and implementation decisions on interconnected systems.
• Own the delivery of data-driven insights that measurably improve system performance and reliability against customer and operational objectives.
• Influence and enforce operational standards for code quality, documentation, and team processes, and proactively mentor senior engineers and peers.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in software development.
• Experience architecting, building, and maintaining production applications using modern programming languages (e.g., Golang, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, Rust) and frameworks (e.g., React, Angular).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a track record of leading others through complex technical problems.
• Deep experience with modern development practices, including version control (e.g., GitHub) and CI/CD or configuration-based deployments (e.g., Kubernetes, Terraform, CloudFormation).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading implementations on observability platforms (e.g., Datadog, Splunk, New Relic).
• Hands-on experience with data platforms and databases such as Databricks, Snowflake, MySQL, or PostgreSQL.
• Experience delivering projects that span multiple teams in large-scale engineering environments.
• Experience with distributed systems or streaming platforms; strong understanding of client-server architecture is a plus.
• Experience using data or observability tools to drive engineering improvements across an organization.

Education

• BS or MS in a quantitative field (Computer Science, Engineering, Math/Statistics, or similar).

The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA is $158,100 - $211,900 per year and in Seattle/NYC is $165,600 - $222,000 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.

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, 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.