Lead Software Engineer

The Walt Disney Company

Lead Software Engineer building AI-driven observability and reliability systems for Disney’s streaming ecosystem. Designing agentic AI, telemetry pipelines, and scalable APIs for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN.

Posted 8/18/2026full-timeNew York City • California, New York • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $155,700 - $218,700 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in architecting and implementing scalable, production-grade distributed systems with a focus on AI-driven solutions. Proficient in developing APIs, data pipelines, and applying best practices in software engineering and observability.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Backend Development ExperienceAI/ML Engineering ExperienceProficiency in Spark, PySpark, PythonExperience with API Design and Microservices ArchitectureFamiliarity with Observability Platforms

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Backend DevelopmentAI-Powered ApplicationsData-Driven ApplicationsScalable APIsDistributed SystemsAI/ML EngineeringAPI DesignMicroservices ArchitecturePrompt DesignModel Evaluation

Soft Skills

Analytical SkillsTechnical SkillsCollaboration SkillsCommunication Skills

Tools & Technologies

SparkPySparkPythonLangChainLangGraphPyTorchTensorFlowGitHubDockerAWS/EKS

Industry Keywords

Distributed SystemsObservabilityAI-Driven SolutionsFoundation ModelsCI/CDTelemetryIncident ResponseRelease ValidationDeveloper ProductivityData Pipelines

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSCloudDistributed SystemsDockerGrafanaMicroservicesPandasPySparkPythonPyTorchSDLCSparkTensorflow

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Architect, design, and implement production-grade distributed systems using real-time telemetry and AI-driven anomaly detection
Define architectural patterns and scaling strategies for agentic AI systems powered by foundation models
Develop end-to-end data and decisioning pipelines for telemetry, logs, and user signals
Create and deploy scalable APIs and services delivering predictive signals, explainability, and insights
Embed intelligence into incident response, release validation, and subscriber experience workflows
Drive innovation in observability, reliability, and developer productivity through applied AI
Define engineering standards and best practices for clean, tested code, code reviews, and CI/CD
Own components of production systems and mentor junior engineers
Partner with engineering, product, and platform teams across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN

Requirements

What you’ll need

7+ years of applicable backend development experience
Experience building AI-powered or data-driven applications and scalable APIs
Proficiency in Spark, PySpark, Python, or a similar programming language
Experience implementing production-grade systems at scale in distributed environments
Strong AI/ML engineering experience orchestrating foundation models such as Claude, OpenAI, or Qwen
Experience with LangChain or LangGraph
Familiarity with PyTorch or TensorFlow for developing, training, or fine-tuning models
Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor or Claude Code
Experience with GitHub, Docker, and cloud-native deployments using AWS/EKS
Strong understanding of API design, microservices architecture, and SDLC workflows
Experience with observability platforms such as Datadog, Grafana, or Conviva
Familiarity with PySpark, Pandas, Databricks, or Snowflake
Knowledge of prompt design, model evaluation, and foundation-model fine-tuning
Strong analytical, technical, collaboration, and communication skills
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience

Benefits

Comp & perks

Bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided
Medical benefits
Financial benefits
Other benefits dependent on the level and position offered
Occasionally work from home