Principal Product Software Engineer

Disney Entertainment; Bristol (CT); On-site; USD 191,000 - 257,000; Full time

Job summary

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for the Sports Backend Engineering team in Bristol, CT. You will help build AI-native tooling and scalable services powering ESPN's sports platforms, collaborating across codebases and disciplines to accelerate velocity.

You will drive architectural decisions, prototype AI-driven solutions, and contribute to production systems that deliver reliable data to Web, Mobile and Living Room devices, while

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years relevant industry experience.
• Mastery of backend platform development technologies and software architectural patterns.
• Extensive experience with cloud-based architecture.
• Extensive experience with Java, Kotlin or other system level languages and Spring Boot.
• Extensive expertise with AI-assisted development tools to accelerate velocity and optimize cost/performance.
• Proven ability to ramp quickly on unfamiliar codebases and modernize systems with AI.
• Experience with multiple databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, RDS, Cassandra, MongoDB, etc.).
• Experience with CI/CD tooling (GitLab, GitHub Actions, TeamCity).
• Strong communication and attention to detail.
• Ability to research, learn and evangelize new technologies.

Responsibilities

• Help accelerate velocity by designing and building AI-native tooling, agents, and workflows.
• Prototype and ship AI-driven solutions with focus on performance and scalability.
• Design, develop and document architectural platform frameworks across teams; lead reviews.
• Provide platform production support for a complex distributed sports data system.
• Develop relationships with stakeholders to inform technical strategy and drive alignment.

Skills

Backend architecture

Cloud architecture

Java/Kotlin

Spring Boot

AI-assisted tooling

Code modernization with AI

Databases

CI/CD tooling

Communication

Tech evangelism

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Software/Engineering

Job description

Job Requirements

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.

Job Summary

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.

As a Principal Software Engineer in the Sports Backend Engineering team, you will be part of a diverse and talented organization building and maintaining complex sports platform services and applications for ESPN. You'll join a team creating the world's leading sports products, working across codebases, teams, and subject matters to accelerate software engineering velocity with AI, shipping production code in a fast-paced, AI-native engineering environment. Beyond your daily responsibilities, you'll have opportunities to contribute innovative ideas for our products and help drive them to fruition.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Help accelerate velocity across teams by helping design and build AI-native tooling, agents, and workflows that help software engineers and other disciplines move faster from idea to production.

• Partner with engineering teams across the org to rapidly prototype and ship AI-driven solutions, balancing speed with performance, scalability, caching, resiliency, and flexibility for expanding product requirements.

• Design, Develop and Document architectural platform frameworks for shared solutions across teams. Lead code and architectural reviews and competitive backend industry research

• Provide platform production support for a complex distributed system that delivers historical and live sports data to Web, Mobile and Living Room devices.

• Acquire a deep understanding of our business processes, dependent systems, and teams, and develop professional relationships with key stakeholders, including business users, product managers, designers, and other Principal Engineers both inside and outside of our organization, to inform technical strategy and drive alignment.

Qualifications:

• A minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience

• Mastery of backend platform development technologies and software architectural patterns

• Extensive experience with Cloud-based architecture

• Extensive experience with Java, Kotlin or other system level languages and using enterprise-grade frameworks such as Spring Boot.

• Extensive expertise with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) to accelerate engineering velocity and demonstrated experience optimizing AI usage for cost and performance through prompt optimization, caching, and smart model routing.

• Proven ability to ramp quickly on unfamiliar codebases and rebuild or modernize systems with AI at significantly higher productivity than a typical engineer, while maintaining quality.

• Experience with multiple database technologies such as Mysql, Postgresql, RDS, Casandra, Mongo, etc.

• Experience with task Automation (GitLab Pipelines, GitHub Actions, TeamCity)

• Strong communication skills and attention to detail

• Ability to research, learn and evangelize new technologies

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS), including services such as S3, Lambda, SNS/SQS, RDS, Kinesis, KMS, OpenSearch, etc

• Experience working on highly scalable, real-time content or data platforms serving millions of consumers.

• Experience integrating with enterprise AI services such as AWS Bedrock, including model invocation, routing, and governance integration.

Education :

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

Disclaimer

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in Bristol, CT is $191,300 to $256,500 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.

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, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. 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 (https://support.disneycareers.com/hc/en-us/sections/32131060143380-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.

The Walt Disney Company is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.