Forward-Deployed AI Engineer: Ship Real-World AI Features

The Walt Disney Company; Burbank (CA); On-site; USD 118,000 - 158,000; Full time

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company is seeking an ambitious Forward Deployed Engineer to join its Applied AI Acceleration practice in Burbank. You will build AI-powered features across Disney's Marketing, Finance, Parks Operations, HR, Studios, and other teams, shaping solutions from problem framing to working products.

This role is an early-career builder position on a small team led by a hands-on manager. Expect direct stakeholder collaboration, end-to-end shipping, and comfort with tools like Claude,

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years shipping software for real users, including at least 1 year shipping AI-powered features.
• Experience with modern AI development tools and methods, such as prompt design, agents, RAG, LLM APIs, and evals.
• Daily or frequent use of AI coding tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, or similar tools.
• Ability to read and reason about code, debug with teammates, and work with data using SQL, APIs, or basic transformations.
• Strong product and business judgment, with experience connecting features to user needs and business outcomes.
• Strong learning agility and comfort working with new tools and changing technology.
• Ability to communicate clearly with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Build and ship AI-powered features from problem definition through production.
• Work directly with stakeholders to understand business needs and gather feedback.
• Own the user experience, including workflows, interfaces, automation, and human-in-the-loop decisions.
• Use tools such as LLM APIs, prompt design, RAG, agents, and evaluation methods to solve problems effectively.
• Build within Disney’s enterprise systems with appropriate security, monitoring, and operational practices.
• Test changes before launch using regression checks, golden sets, and other evaluation methods.
• Contribute reusable code, tools, and patterns when they can help future engagements.
• Partner with teammates through code reviews, debugging, and shared problem solving.
• Explain technical decisions and tradeoffs clearly to business stakeholders.

Skills

AI development tools

Prompt design

LLM APIs

SQL / APIs data handling

Stakeholder communication

Learning agility

Product judgment

Shipping software to users

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

Tools

Cursor

Claude Code

LLM tools

Job description

The Walt Disney Company is seeking an ambitious Forward Deployed Engineer to join its Applied AI Acceleration practice in Burbank. You will build AI-powered features across Disney's Marketing, Finance, Parks Operations, HR, Studios, and other teams, shaping solutions from problem framing to working products.

This role is an early-career builder position on a small team led by a hands-on manager. Expect direct stakeholder collaboration, end-to-end shipping, and comfort with tools like Claude,