Lead Software Engineer

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we are 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 is 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.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

• Building the future of Disney’s Streaming, Sports, and Entertainment business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the backend systems, API’s and mobile applications that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses.
• Reach and 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.
• About the Organization

Engineering Services designs, builds, and sustains technology that powers DE&E Technology’s worldwide content production and distribution platforms. In doing so, they contribute to a series of cross-functional services and technologies, including Quality Engineering, Data Analytics, Software Development, Broadcast Infrastructure, and Networking & Security. The Quality Engineering team validates all work before production, including web, mobile, living room applications, media, services, non-consumer-facing products and more. 

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. The Walt Disney Company is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status

Job Summary:

As Lead Software Engineer, within DE&E, you will touch the lives of Disney fans around the world, working on innovative digital products and platforms from Disney, ESPN, National Geographic, ABC, Marvel, Star Wars and more.  You will be a senior leader on the Quality Engineering team, whose primary goal is continually improving the quality of the products that Disney is known for while decreasing time-to-market and enabling innovation.  This role makes you a stakeholder in every digital property developed and released by the DE&E Technology group, as well as the platforms and enterprise applications that power them.

As an experienced software engineering leader who has a passion for leading engineers that drive quality and productivity into world-class applications and services, you will lead a small group of talented and driven software engineers dedicated to building test automation, tools, reports, and services that enable product delivery teams to deliver all Disney digital applications with the quality and reliability expected by our guests. 

As a member of our team, you will strive to accomplish the following goals:

• Contributing to the successful implementation of solutions for complex technical problems with DE&E engineering teams 
• Owning the development and maintenance of the architecture for frameworks, execution environments, build systems and tooling used across multiple products
• Providing strategic input on future initiatives with stakeholders and other engineers
• Define high level project architecture. Communicate architecture decisions to all members of the team
• Contributing and defining Key Performance Indicators to be used for defining project statuses and effectiveness 
• Manage engineers to Check-in valuable, clean code daily that adds new features and capabilities
• Becoming a core member of our Quality Engineering team, leading engineers to help others increase productivity through innovation, automated test creation, curiousity and thoughtful debate.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Developing and supporting test automation, execution environments and reporting tools
• Writing code that establishes and enhances test automation and design proof of concepts.
• Coordination of complex tasks with external teams & stakeholders
• Leading and Mentoring junior developers and providing in-depth code reviews and technical analysis
• Providing end-user and developer training on automation tool sets.
• Prioritize, estimate, and define complex projects and tools
• Coordinating scheduling, updates, and communications with internal and external teams
• Contributing and defining Key Performance Indicators to be used for defining project statuses and effectiveness 
• Providing strategic input on future initiatives with stakeholders and other engineers
• Investigating and resolving any test automation, tooling or execution of environmental issues affecting our services
• Serving as an advanced resource for other software engineers on the team. Collaboration with immediate teams and peers to design complex solutions, peer review code, and suggest optimization
• Leading a small group of 1-3 motivated software engineers.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor’s degree or the foreign equivalent in Computer Science or a closely related field
• 7+ years of progressive experience in a software development (SDET) occupation, including automated testing of front end and backend services
• Proficient in object-oriented design and expertise with one of the following programming languages: Python, Java, Node/JavaScript
• 4+ years of experience with test automation and unit testing frameworks
• 3+ year of experience with leading teams of 2 or more
• Experience working with high-performing teams using Agile and Lean methodologies and frameworks
• Experience in modern design patterns and techniques and have led the design of small to large products
• Experience in deriving and gathering quality KPI’s to give insight into product’s health and progress
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Organized, detail-oriented and able to deliver project tasks on time
• Strong verbal and written communication skills. Highly motivated, self-starting individual

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience shipping a production Python, Flask, Django, React or Node.js application
• Experience in mobile application development and testing
• Experience with developing applications in cloud platforms (e.g. AWS)
• Experience working with Agile methodologies
• Working knowledge of web accessibility fundamentals
• Experience with Kafka, Amazon SQS, and Kinesis 
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Spinnaker, and continuous integration/delivery systems
• Experience writing Gherkin Syntax to facilitate the development of automated test scenarios
• Experience developing advanced mocking mechanisms (e.g., rule-based proxies and dummy-services)
• Experience with test suite/case/run management tools (e.g., JIRA Xray, etc.)

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, CA is $149,300 to $200,200 per year and in Seattle, WA and New York, NY is $156,292 to $209,660 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.