Full-Stack Developer

The Information Services (InfoServ) team at Walt Disney Animation Studios is seeking a Full-Stack Developer to build and maintain modern web-based internal business applications. This role requires translating stakeholder needs into solutions, taking ownership of core applications, and addressing the backlog. The developer will support over 15 departments, ensuring stability, predictability, and technical excellence in a complex environment. Key responsibilities include solving challenging technical problems, safeguarding business functions, and exploring new initiatives like AI integration. The ideal candidate is a pragmatic problem-solver who enjoys building and bringing order to chaos.

Must Have

• Lead core development of critical internal web applications using React, Django, and Python.
• Systematically work through the application backlog, delivering high-quality, tested code.
• Act as a technical leader and mentor for other developers, sharing best practices.
• Troubleshoot, support, maintain, and strategically modernize legacy applications (PHP, Ruby).
• Collaborate with 15+ stakeholder departments to translate needs into technical requirements.
• Participate in architectural decisions and "build vs. buy" analysis for new projects.
• Drive Agile practice, focusing on accurate estimation and shipping value.
• 3+ years of experience building, shipping, and maintaining complex, data-driven web applications.
• Deep mastery of Python and the Django framework.
• Proven experience in the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance, scalable, and secure RESTful/GraphQL APIs.
• Proficiency in a modern JavaScript-based framework, ideally React, and Typescript.
• Willingness and ability to read, understand, and refactor code you didn't write.
• Clear, proactive communication with technical peers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Pragmatic problem-solver with an ability to context-shift and manage competing priorities.

Good to Have

• Experience integrating AI features into web-based solutions (LLM APIs, LangChain/LlamaIndex, vector databases).
• Past experience in a VFX/Animation production environment, especially with Autodesk Shotgrid/Flow Production Tracking.
• Solid understanding of data engineering principles (ETL/ELT, data modeling).
• Familiarity with securing web applications and services with modern authentication/authorization principles (SSO, OAuth 2.0).
• Experience building out CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes) and deploying to cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP).
• Enjoy replacing tangled, old scripts with clean, modern, and maintainable services.
• Experience using coding assistants (GitHub Copilot or Claude Code) and an interest in helping the team develop best practices.

Perks & Benefits

• Collaborative, not combative, work environment.
• Opportunity to be a respected engineer and shape technical direction.
• High-impact, high-visibility work on tools for 15+ departments and studio leaders.
• Diverse tasks with ~20 applications and constant new problems to solve.
• Real Agile practices with customized 2-week sprints focused on shipping value.
• Bonus and/or long-term incentive units as part of compensation.
• Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.

Job Summary:

**🚀 The Opportunity**

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At Walt Disney Animation Studios we have a deep commitment to the philosophy that creativity inspires technology, and technology inspires creativity. The Information Services (InfoServ) team is seeking a Full-Stack Developer with experience building out modern web-based internal business applications to be a stabilizing force. We don't just need a coder; we need someone who can translate the needs of our stakeholders into solutions, take ownership of core applications, and crush our backlog.

Our group supports 15+ stakeholder departments—including Analytics, Production Management, HR, Training, and Studio Leadership— and maintains ~20 internal business applications. Your mission will be to bring stability, predictability, and technical excellence to this complex environment. You will be expected to contribute toward solving our most challenging technical problems, safeguarding our core business functions and partner with others to explore new initiatives, like implementing AI functionality into our solutions..

If you are a pragmatic problem-solver who loves building and bringing order to chaos, this is the role for you.

**📝 What You'll Do**

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• **Lead Core Development: Take an ownership role in designing, building, and maintaining critical internal web applications using our React, Django, and Python** stack.

• **Crush the Backlog:** Systematically work through our application backlog, delivering high-priority features and improvements with high-quality, tested code.

• **Share Best Practices with the Team:** Act as a technical leader and mentor for other developers in regards to best web and development practices. You'll elevate the team's skills through insightful code reviews, pair programming, and establishing standards.

• **Tackle Legacy Systems: Fearlessly dive into our legacy applications (including PHP, Ruby, etc.**) to troubleshoot, support, maintain, and strategically modernize them.

• **Collaborate & Prioritize:** Work directly with our 15+ stakeholder departments to understand their needs and translate them into clear technical requirements. You'll be a key voice in helping the team balance and prioritize competing requests.

• **Own the Architecture:** Participate in architectural decisions and our "build vs. buy" analysis for new projects, ensuring our solutions are scalable and maintainable.

• **Drive Agile Practice:** Be a role model for our collaborative, 2-week Agile sprint process, helping the team with accurate estimation and a focus on shipping value.

**Qualifications We're Looking For (Must-Haves)**

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• **Extensive Full-Stack Experience:** 3+ years of proven experience in building, shipping, and maintaining complex, data-driven web applications in a production environment.

• **Expert-Level Python & Django:** Deep mastery of Python and the Django framework. You should be able to build complex features, optimize performance, and understand the framework's "magic."

• **Experience with RESTful/GraphQL APIs:** Proven experience in the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance, scalable, and secure APIs (often RESTful, sometimes GraphQL) to support both internal and external services.

• **Strong Front-End Skills:** Proficiency in a modern JavaScript-based framework, ideally React, and superset language, like Typescript. You can build and maintain sophisticated user interfaces.

• **The "Legacy Whisperer":** You must be willing and able to read, understand, and refactor code you didn't write using all the tools at your disposal (including coding assistants). Experience with (or at least a lack of fear of) legacy languages like PHP or Ruby is important.

• **Exceptional Communication:** You are a clear, proactive communicator who can collaborate with technical peers and non-technical stakeholders alike.

• **Pragmatic Problem-Solver:** You have a "get-it-done" attitude and an almost unflappable ability to context-shift and manage competing priorities without getting frustrated.

**Required Education**

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• BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience.

**What Will Make You Stand Out (Nice-to-Haves)**

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• Experience integrating AI features into web based solutions to improve the experience of end users. This includes demonstrable experience building and shipping applications that integrate LLM APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini), as well as, hands-on experience with the modern AI/LLM development stack (e.g., LangChain or LlamaIndex) and a solid understanding of vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma).

• Past experience in a VFX/Animation production environment, especially with Autodesk Shotgrid/Flow Production Tracking.

• A solid understanding of data engineering principles (e.g., ETL/ELT, data modeling) to make your collaboration with the data team even smoother.

• Security Experience: Familiarity with securing web applications and services with modern authentication/authorization principles (e.g., SSO, OAuth 2.0).

• DevOps & Cloud: Experience building out CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes) and deploying to cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP).

• You genuinely enjoy the satisfaction of replacing a tangled, old script with a clean, modern, and maintainable service.

• Experience using coding assistants (like GitHub Copilot or Claude Code) and an interest in helping the whole team develop best practices.

**💡 Why You'll Like Working Here**

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• **We're Collaborative, Not Combative:** We value clear communication and a "we're in this together" mindset.

• **Be the Expert:** You won't just be another developer. You'll be a respected engineer on the team, and your voice will be critical in shaping our technical direction.

• **High-Impact, High-Visibility:** You'll build tools that directly help your colleagues in 15+ departments, including studio decision makers and leaders on our feature films. You will see the impact of your work immediately.

• **No Boredom:** With ~20 apps and a constant stream of new problems to solve, you will never be stuck doing the same thing.

• **Real Agile:** We use 2-week sprints that we've customized to fit our team's needs, not a textbook. We focus on shipping, not on ceremonies.

The hiring range for this position in California is $117,500.00-$157,500.00 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.