Lead Software Engineer - Big Data Infrastructure

The Walt Disney Company; Santa Monica, San Francisco, Seattle (CA, CA, WA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company is seeking a Lead Software Engineer for Big Data Infrastructure, focused on building next-gen cloud-based solutions and improving performance for Disney's vast media ecosystem. The role offers a chance to innovate with cutting-edge technologies and collaborate with teams to shape the future of entertainment and sports data infrastructure.

Qualifications

• At least 7 years of professional programming and design experience.
• Experience in developing and optimizing ETL and ad-hoc query engines necessary.
• Proven experience in building large-scale data systems required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve in-house/cloud large-scale data processing engines.
• Investigate new big data technology for production environments.
• Collaborate with Product Managers to build datastores as a service.

Skills

Bigdata-related components

Cloud infrastructure technologies

CICD

Architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science

Tools

Hadoop

Spark

Flink

Kubernetes

Job description

Lead Software Engineer - Big Data Infrastructure

Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 10115534 Location Seattle, Washington, United States / Santa Monica, California, United States / San Francisco, California, United States Business Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology Date postedMar. 19, 2025

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Product & Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Product & Technology (DEEP&T), 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 Product &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.

About Our Team

The Big Data Infrastructure team manages big data services such as Hadoop, Spark, Flink, Presto, Hive, etc. Our services are distributed across the data center and Cloud, supporting a large scale of data amount and thousands of physical resources. We focus on the virtualization of big data environments, cost efficiency, resiliency, and performance.

The right person for this role should have proven experience with working in mission-critical infrastructure and enjoy building and maintaining large-scale data systems with the challenge of varied requirements and large storage capabilities. If you are someone who enjoys building large-scale big data infrastructure, then this is a great role for you

• Develop, scale, and improve in-house/cloud and open-source large-scale data processing engines or framework systems (e.g. Spark, Flink, Presto/Trino, etc).

• Investigate new big data technology, and apply it to the DisneyStreaming production environment.

• Build next-gen cloud-based big data infrastructure for batch and streaming data applications, and continuously improve performance, scalability and availability

• Handle architectural and design considerations such as performance, scalability, reusability, and flexibility issues.

• Advocate engineering best practices, including the use of design patterns, code review, and automated unit/functional testing.

• Work together with other engineering teams to influence them on big data system design and optimization.

• Define and lead the adoption of best practices and processes. Collaborate with senior internal team members and external stakeholders to gather requirements and drive implementation

• Collaborate efficiently with Product Managers and other developers to build datastores as a service.

• Collaborate with senior internal team members and external stakeholders to gather requirements and drive implementation.

• At least 7 years of professional programming and design experience

• Bigdata-related components (e.g. HDFS, HBase, Yarn, Hive, Spark, Flink, Presto, Impala, Terraform, EKS, Spinnaker, IAM, EMR, and etc)

• Experience in building in-house big data infrastructure.

• Experience in developing and optimizing ETL and ad-hoc query engines (e.g. Spark, Flink, Hive, Presto/Trino, GreenPlum)

• Experience in CICD, fine-tuned metrics, security and compliance enhancement on compute engines

• Experience in latest data format (Iceberg, Delta, Hudi)

• Experience in catalog and metadata management would be a plus

• Experience in developing and optimizing Hadoop-related and containerized technologies would be a plus (e.g. HDFS, HBase, Yarn, Kubernetes, docker, RocksDB)

• Demonstrated ability with cloud infrastructure technologies, including Terraform, K8S, IAM, ELB, Ranger, KMS, S3, Glue etc

• Experience in managing a big data cluster with over 1000 nodes.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica, California is $152,200 to $204,100 per year, in Seattle, Washington is $159,500 to $213,900 per year, and in San Francisco, California is $166,800 to $223,600 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.

About Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology:

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Disney Streaming Technology LLC , which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology .

Disney Streaming Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

• Senior Product Manager II Glendale, California, United States / Santa Monica, California, United States / San Francisco, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States

Disability Accommodation For Employment Applications

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, email [e-mail] with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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