Lead Content Distribution Engineer

ESPN; New York (NY); On-site; USD 135,400 - 181,600; Full time

Job summary

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology in New York is seeking a Lead Content Distribution Engineer to manage CDN edge caching and distribution. The role focuses on operating the Disney Distribution Mesh, reviewing performance metrics, and guiding incidents with CDN providers.

You will develop tooling to integrate third-party CDNs and mentor junior engineers. Ideal candidates have 7+ years in caching, CDN environments, and understanding of streaming (HLS).

Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years managing caching solutions.
• Streaming video protocols (HLS) and caching interactions.
• Network troubleshooting ability.
• Experience in a Content Distribution Network environment.
• Knowledge of video players and impact on cache logic.

Responsibilities

• Focus on operations & management of cache solutions.
• Support product-driven initiatives and projects.
• Develop engineering tooling and automation.
• Training & mentoring.

Skills

Caching management

CDN experience

Streaming protocols (HLS)

Network troubleshooting

Communication

Debugging

Video players impact on cache

Bachelor's degree

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Varnish

NGINX

HAProxy

AWS

GCP

Python

Ansible/AWX

SSL/TLS

Job description

Lead Content Distribution Engineer

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business worldwide.

For the role of Lead Content Distribution Engineer, Media Processing and Distribution is looking for a candidate specializing in caching technology, distributed networking, and operational experience in CDN edge services. This role will join the Product Engineering organization as part of the Media Distribution Technology team which develops and maintains CDN configurations for all CDNs in the Disney Distribution Mesh.

Areas of focus include:

• Configure and manage CDN configurations in the Disney Distribution Mesh
• Actively manage OpenCache deployments with ISPs globally
• Actively review performance metrics across our caching infrastructure for improvements (in concert with operations and performance management teams)
• Review capacity and ensure alignment with global distribution strategy
• Oversee day‑to‑day operations of Disney Distribution Mesh
• Participate in tooling development to integrate 3rd party CDNs into a unified control plane
• Operational management contact for CDN support – actively managing incidents via communication with CDN support teams
• Identify areas for caching configuration tuning and adjustment
• Work to solve caching issues in concert with our operations and engineering organizations
• Provide consultation on caching solutions to internal stakeholders
• Provide senior tier‑3 on‑call evaluation, escalation and support

Responsibilities and duties of the role:

• Focus on operations & management of cache solutions
• Support product‑driven initiatives and projects
• Develop engineering tooling and automation
• Training & mentoring

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience managing caching solutions
• Understanding of streaming video protocols (HLS) and how it interacts with caching
• Ability to perform network troubleshooting
• Effective communication, written and verbal
• Passion for troubleshooting and debugging
• Experience in a Content Distribution Network environment
• Knowledge of video players and impact on cache logic
• Bachelor’s degree required

Preferred experience with:

• HTTP/DNS/Internet architecture
• Caching (Varnish)
• Web serving (NGINX, HAProxy)
• Cloud technologies (AWS, GCP)
• Scripting languages (Python, etc.)
• Security protocols (SSL certificates, TLS)
• Configuration management (Ansible, AWX)

The hiring range for this position in New York is $135,400–$181,600 per year and in Santa Monica is $129,300–$173,300 per year. The base pay offered will consider internal equity and may vary depending on geographic region, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. A bonus and/or long‑term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, along with the full range of medical, financial, and other benefits, depending on the level and position offered.