Lead Software Engineer

22 Hours ago • 7 Years + • Backend Development • $152,200 PA - $213,900 PA

Job Summary

Job Description

Lead Software Engineer at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology will lead development of well-architected solutions, testing methodologies, and complex new features. Responsibilities include technical design and implementation, work breakdown, stakeholder alignment, code execution, and deployment to production. The role involves collaboration with engineers, project managers, and product managers to create best-in-class recommendations and discovery experiences for millions of customers. This includes participation in a 24/7 on-call rotation and mentoring team members. The team builds systems providing data at scale for Disney+, Hulu, and Star+, implementing reliable, high-request services.
Must have:
  • 7+ years backend service experience
  • Large-scale service operation
  • JVM service expertise
  • Backend architecture design
  • Agile/Scrum experience
  • Strong communication skills
Good to have:
  • Messaging technologies (Kafka, Kinesis, etc.)
  • Experience with global remote teams

Job Details

Job Summary:

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.

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+, Hulu, and Star+. We implement reliable, high-request services that deliver data that helps power streaming user experiences, across web, mobile, and living room devices. We are looking for a software engineer who wants to build and operate these critical services that support all of our users!

We're a fast-paced, dynamic, collaborative and fun team, and looking forward to finding out more about you!

You'll join a hardworking group of engineers who strive to create the best-in-class Recommendations & Discovery experiences for hundreds of millions of customers across Disney+, Hulu, ABC and ESPN.  You will collaborate with Data Science/ML and Product teams to innovate on, develop and operate Recommendation Systems at scale.

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will collaborate closely with engineers, project managers, and product managers to find the best solution for our viewers. You will drive projects end-to-end: designing the initial solution; finding alignment with stakeholders; execution of the necessary code; and overseeing the deployment of services to production. Members of the team look to your code and documentation as examples of What To Do. You value good-faith collaboration, driving best practices, and promoting excellence on your team. If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you!

Responsibilities:

  • Lead the development of well-architected solutions and delivery of maintainable code.
  • Lead development of testing methodologies and delivery of test frameworks.
  • Lead technical design and implementation of complex new features.
  • Expertly break down work at the epic level, setting project milestones with reasonable deadlines.
  • Design new solutions and ensure alignment across engineering and product teams.
  • Prioritize work within a project to deliver on the most necessary or urgent requirements.
  • Write code to implement new features or optimize existing services.
  • Effectively communicate with stakeholders on project progress.
  • Anticipate and mitigate risk on projects.
  • Determine the most efficient means to sufficiently test new code: unit tests, integration tests, performance tests, etc.
  • Participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation for our tier-1 critical services facing millions of users worldwide. 
  • Use logs, monitoring tools, and work with developers to determine root causes across distributed components.
  • Set best practices for the team for on-call responsibilities such as deployments, monitoring, and investigating incidents
  • Perform code reviews for members of the team, bearing a sense of responsibility for approved code.
  • Coach and mentor teammates in an open, respectful, flexible, empathetic manner. Help onboard new team members.
  • Actively participate in daily stand-ups and other scrum ceremonies.

Basic Qualifications

  • Minimum of 7 years of related experience crafting and operating backend services.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience
  • 1+ years of related experience crafting and operating large-scale, high-availability backend services.
  • Experience with algorithms and ML model implementation & operation at scale for consumer facing experiences.
  • Demonstrated knowledge crafting and operating JVM services.
  • Proven track record of designing and driving consensus on backend architectures.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of asynchronous programming.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of object-oriented programming patterns.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of functional programming patterns.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of source control systems and CI/CD pipelines.
  • 1+ years experience operating within a Public Cloud Provider (e.g., AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
  • Experience with observability tools for metrics, logging, and monitoring (e.g., Datadog, Splunk, Grafana)
  • Ability to design and understand high-level architecture and frameworks as well as dive deep into individual technical components and systems.
  • Ability to pragmatically drive technical projects with an analytical and data-driven approach.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of AGILE/Scrum practices.
  • Skilled at work breakdown and task estimation.
  • Strong communication skills and a desire to share your knowledge with team members and others across Disney Streaming.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Demonstrated knowledge of messaging technologies (e.g., Kafka, Kinesis, SQS, etc.)
  • Experience working with remote global teams and a flexible schedule to meet in different time zones.

#DISNEYTECH

 


The hiring range for this position in Seattle, WA or New York, NY is $159,500 to $213,900 per year and in Los Angeles, CA 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.

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About The Company

From classic animated features and exhilarating theme park attractions to cutting edge sports coverage, and the hottest shows on television, The Walt Disney Company has been making magic since 1923, creating unforgettable stories that connect with audiences around the world. And we’re just getting started!

The key to our success…. The Cast, Crew, Imagineers and Employees who honor Disney’s rich legacy by stretching the bounds of imagination to create the never-before-seen, bringing unparalleled entertainment experiences to people of all ages. Begin a career that delivers unparalleled creative content and experiences to audiences around the world and just imagine the stories you could be part of…

What is #LifeAtDisney like? It’s a series of magical moments with cast members and employees developing and telling our stories in the most innovative ways. Whether it’s a day spent as a Disney VoluntEAR, or celebrating the release of a new interactive experience, retail product or movie, our days are filled with the knowledge that we are creating entertainment experiences the whole family can enjoy. Follow @DisneyCareers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for a peek behind-the-curtain, and discover how you could connect to a world of stories with Disney!

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