Senior Software Engineer

The Walt Disney Company

New York (NY)

On-site

USD 148,700 - 199,400

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits
Bonus opportunities
Work in a creative environment

Job summary

A global media and entertainment company in New York seeks a Senior Software Engineer for their Playback Services team. This role involves building high-performance systems and participating in architecture discussions to ensure quality. Applicants should have a Bachelor's in Computer Science and 5+ years of relevant experience. The ideal candidate will have expertise in functional programming, cloud operations, and a strong understanding of observability tools. This is an opportunity to work where technology meets storytelling.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field and/or equivalent work experience.
  • 5+ years of experience crafting backend architectures and delivering backend applications in production.
  • Expertise in functional programming patterns and experience building RESTful services.
  • Strong grasp of computer science fundamentals and understanding of design patterns.

Responsibilities

  • Work with a team to build high-performance, stable, scalable systems.
  • Lead architecture discussions and establish standards to drive quality.
  • Participate in the on-call rotation supporting systems during incidents.
  • Provide mentoring and advice for other engineers.

Skills

Backend architecture
Functional programming patterns
RESTful services
Async programming models
Cloud services
CI/CD pipelines
Observability tools
Caching technologies
AGILE/Scrum
Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS
Git
Jenkins
Docker
Kafka

Job description

Senior Software Engineer

Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 10145073 Location New York, New York, United States Business Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology Date postedMar. 16, 2026

Job Summary:

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.

Media Engineering is an innovative organization that is focused on providing the best possible video playback experience, art, and metadata to customers around the world, powered by exceptional technology. This strategic work requires streamlining and repurposing technology across different business and distribution channels – including streaming, linear, and theatrical – so that technology can ebb and flow across the needs of the business.

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the Playback Services team within the Media Engineering organization! Our mission is to build highly available, high throughput services that are crucial to delivering high quality content to our subscribers. We are responsible for the backend of media playback, facilitating media selection, device customization, and antipiracy technologies. If you enjoy streaming media, are interested in live sports and entertainment, or just want to join a fast-growing team that plays a significant role in the core functionality of our streaming products, then this role is for you!

Responsibilities
  • Work with a team of engineers to build high-performance, stable, scalable systems to be deployed in an enterprise setting
  • Lead high-level architecture discussions and planning sessions, author and share feedback on technical proposals and root cause analyses, and establish standards within the team to drive quality and excellence
  • Participate in the on-call rotation, supporting systems and services during production incidents
  • Provide mentoring and advice for other engineers
  • Participate in the DSS technical community through presentations, tech talks, and other knowledge-sharing efforts
Basic Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience
  • 5+ years related experience crafting backend architectures and delivering backend applications in a production environment. Validated knowledge of operating large-scale high-availability backend services and JVM services
  • Expertise in functional programming patterns and experience building RESTful services (Scala APIs)
  • Understanding of async programming models (events, callbacks, promises, async/await) and threading/concurrency
  • Strong grasp of computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, databases, etc.) and strong understanding of design patterns and principles
  • Experience operating within a Public Cloud Provider (e.g., AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
  • Understanding of source control concepts and systems, CI/CD pipelines and exposure to Git
  • Experience with build and deployment technologies such as Jenkins and Docker. Experience with messaging technologies (e.g., Kafka, Kinesis, SQS, etc.)
  • Experience with observability tools for metrics, logging, and monitoring (e.g., Datadog, Splunk, Grafana)
  • Knowledge of caching technologies
  • Knowledge of AGILE/Scrum practices.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Self-learner, independent, excellent problem-solving skills

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $148,700 to $199,400 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:

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 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.

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 Candidate.Accommodations@Disney.com 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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