Lead Systems Engineer

The Walt Disney Company; Glendale (CA); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus & long-term incentives

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company is seeking a Lead Systems Engineer in Glendale/NYC hybrid environments to translate enterprise designs into scalable patterns, drive reliability, and lead cross-functional infra initiatives.

Requirements include 7+ years in systems engineering, hybrid on-prem + cloud expertise, NFS/S3 storage, VMware, Kubernetes, and strong IaC/CI/CD automation. Collaboration across teams is essential for success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field is required.
• 7+ years of systems/infrastructure engineering experience.
• Expertise in hybrid infrastructure (on-prem + cloud).
• Expertise in large scale multiprotocol NFS & S3 storage systems.
• Experience with VMware, Kubernetes, and distributed systems.
• Strong automation skills (IaC, CI/CD) and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of hybrid infrastructure systems focused on origin storage.
• Translate architectural designs into scalable deployment patterns.
• Identify KPI-driven improvements across platforms.
• Deliver solutions across on-prem and cloud environments.
• Mentor engineers and lead multi-team technical initiatives.

Skills

Hybrid infra

NFS & S3 storage

Distributed systems

Automation (IaC/CI/CD)

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field

Tools

VMware

Kubernetes

Job description

Job ID 10159580 Location Glendale, California, United States / New York, New York, United States Business Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology Date posted Sep. 21, 2026

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 globally.

The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses.We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.

Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.

Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally.

Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity.

The Lead Systems Engineer is a senior technical contributor responsible for delivering and scaling critical infrastructure platforms across hybrid environments, including on-premises data centers and public cloud.

This role bridges architecture and execution by translating enterprise-level designs into reusable, automated patterns while leading complex infrastructure initiatives across multiple teams.

#DISNEYTECH

Responsibilities

Platform Engineering & Delivery

• Lead design and implementation of hybrid infrastructure systems focused primarily on origin object storage systems of content.
• Translate architectural designs into scalable deployment patterns
• Identify critical metric KPI’s to drive improvements across all platforms
• Deliver solutions across on-prem and cloud environments
• Drive continuous improvements to support our goal of 5 9’s availability.

Automation & Modernization

• Drive Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD best practices
• Lead infrastructure migrations and modernization initiatives

Reliability & Operations

• Lead incident response and ensure production stability
• Support high availability, 24x7 infrastructure services

Technical Leadership

• Mentor engineers and improve engineering practices
• Act as a technical leader across multi-team projects
• Partner cross-functionally to drive delivery

Collaboration

• Partner cross-functionally to drive delivery
• Communicate technical decisions clearly

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field
• 7+ years of systems/infrastructure engineering experience
• Expertise in hybrid infrastructure (on-prem + cloud)
• Expertise in complex large scale high performance multiprotocol NFS & S3 object storage systems
• Experience with VMware, Kubernetes, and distributed systems
• Strong automation skills (IaC, CI/CD)
• Proven leadership across complex technical initiatives

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with large-scale migrations
• Storage and data lifecycle expertise
• Observability and monitoring expertise

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $135,400.00 - $181,600.00 per year, and in Los Angeles, CA, $129,300 - $173,300 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:

At Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, we’re blending imagination and innovation to reimagine the ways people experience and engage with the world’s most beloved stories and products. Our work is wide-ranging and deeply sophisticated. We create amazing experiences, transform the future of media, and build products and platforms that enable the connection between people everywhere and the stories and sports they love.

Disney’s ability to marry world-class technology with one-of-a-kind creativity makes us unique. It is at the heart of our past, present, and future. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers.

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 Entertainment & Sports LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.

Disney Entertainment & Sports 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.

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, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

Explore Disney Careers and the Life at Disney blog to learn about all the amazing opportunities waiting to be discovered at The Walt Disney Company.

Heroes Work Here

Heroes Work Here reflects the long history of respect and appreciation Disney has for the U.S. Armed Services. We recognize the commitment and dedication it takes to serve your country, both as military personnel and military spouses, and value the leadership skills and sense of purpose it has instilled in you.