Lead Product Software Engineer

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

Content Platforms & Operations is responsible for the development and ongoing advancement of the technical and operational functions driving the worldwide distribution and monetization of Disney's linear networks and theatrical content. This includes Disney's media supply chain and storage, network and theatrical distribution operations, media localization, network transmission and origination, and more. The global team also plays a critical role as the primary collaboration point for Product & Technology with Disney's EMEA, APAC, and LATAM regional business teams.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a Software Engineer II to join our Content Platform Engineering team, focusing on building and supporting ML-assisted pipelines to improve content inspection. Our team develops and manages products and services that power Disney's media supply chain, enabling content delivery for iconic brands like Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, ABC, Marvel, and Star Wars.

In this role, you will apply software engineering fundamentals to help implement and maintain components of ML-assisted pipelines that support automated inspection, validation, and enrichment of media assets. You will work with computer vision models, LLMS, and other ML workflows to assist in streamlining content analysis. Leveraging modern software engineering practices and cloud infrastructure, you will contribute to building reliable and maintainable systems while learning to support AI-powered content operations.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Write and Maintain Software Solutions : Implement and test software features under close guidance, following established designs, coding standards, and documented procedures.

• Support AI Workflows : Assist with AI-related development tasks, such as integrating existing AI or machine-learning services and verifying basic inputs and outputs, with support from more experienced engineers.

• Production Support: Assist with monitoring and troubleshooting production systems, following runbooks and escalation procedures to help maintain system stability.

• Continuous Learning: Develop foundational skills in software development, cloud technologies, and introductory machine-learning concepts through hands-on work, training, and mentorship.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or comparable field of study, and equivalent work experience.

• 3+ years relevant industry experience

• Proficiency in at least one core programming language (e.g. Java, Python, etc) for building reliable and maintainable software solutions.

• Understanding of software development fundamentals, including object oriented programming, data structures, and algorithms.

• Strong problem solving skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.

• Experience working with REST APIs or GraphQL for building and consuming web services.

• Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS and their core services (e.g., S3, Lambda, EC2).

• Knowledge of database systems, including MongoDB (NoSQL) and SQL based databases.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to machine learning or computer vision technologies and experience integrating them into software solutions.

• Familiarity with Generative AI and prompt engineering.

• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker and ecs.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document technical solutions and processes clearly.

The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA and Bristol, CT is $117,500 - $157,500 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.

Job ID: 10159641

Location: Glendale,California

Job Posting Company: Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

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, email View email address on click.appcast.io with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.