Lead Software Engineer

Department/Group Overview:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The Product & Data Engineering team is responsible for end to end development for Disney’s world-class consumer-facing products, including streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, and digital products & experiences across ESPN, Marvel, Disney Studios, NatGeo, and ABC News. The team drives innovation at scale for millions of consumers around the world across Apple, Android, Smart TVs, game consoles, and the web, with our platforms powering core experiences like personalization, search, messaging and data.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working for Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

• Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
• Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
• Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

The Content Experience Delivery team builds systems that provide data at scale to teams across Disney Streaming. We implement reliable, high-request services that deliver data that helps power user experiences for Disney Streaming clients including Hulu, Disney+, Star+ and ESPN+, across web, mobile, and living room devices.

Job Summary:

As a Lead Software engineer on the team, the candidate would be responsible for building high-performance, stable, scalable systems that publish data to Disney Streaming's internal and edge-facing services - ultimately powering Disney Streaming clients running on smart TVs, smartphones, gaming consoles, FireTV, Apple TV, Roku, and others. Additionally, the engineer would be responsible for leading high-level architecture discussions and planning sessions.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Work with a team of engineers building software in a collaborative development process
• Build high-performance, stable, scalable systems to be deployed in an enterprise setting
• Lead high-level architecture discussions and planning sessions
• Participate in the code review process by providing feedback on pull requests
• Participate in on-call rotation, supporting systems and services during production incidents
• Provide mentoring and advice for other engineers
• Collaborate efficiently with product management, technical program management, operations, and other engineering teams to capture requirements, drive implementation, and provide transparency.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant professional experience
• 5+ years of experience crafting large-scale, highly available Java services utilizing various database and messaging technologies
• Strong programming skills in Java and other object-oriented languages, and a strong grasp of computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, databases, etc.)
• Experience using source control systems and CI/CD pipelines.
• An ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Champion cross-team projects.
• Coach and mentor other specialists on the team to ensure that all software utilizes Hulu and industry best practices for data persistence.
• Collaborate efficiently with product management, technical program management, operations, and other engineering teams to capture requirements, drive implementation, and provide transparency.
• A broad perspective on problem-solving.
• Strong communication skills and a desire to share your knowledge with team members and others at Hulu.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience deploying and scaling within a cloud infrastructure.
• Experience directly managing and mentoring a team.

Experience with:

• Experience in Java and other object-oriented languages, and a strong grasp of computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, databases, etc.)
• Experience crafting large-scale, highly available Java services utilizing various database and messaging technologies
• Experience using source control systems and CI/CD pipelines.

Required Education  

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $166,800 to $223,600 per year, in Seattle or New York is $159,500, to $213,900 per year and in Santa Monica is $152,200 to $204,100 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.