Senior Software Engineer

ESPN; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 151,000 - 202,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Benefits package

Incentive units

Job summary

ESPN, within Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, seeks a Senior Software Engineer to design and deliver a cross-platform JavaScript player for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. You will own features, mentor peers, and collaborate with backend services to enable seamless streaming on browsers, TVs, consoles, and mobile devices.

Strong JS, web tech, and streaming knowledge are required, with a passion for solving hard problems and delivering high-quality playback experiences.

Qualifications

• BS or BA in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of full software development lifecycle experience.
• Highly fluent in JavaScript and web technologies.
• Experience developing for web browsers & other web-based client devices.
• Experience in Streaming technologies, such as HLS/DASH, DRM like PlayReady/Widevine, ABR, and caption formats.
• Experience developing and optimizing high-performance client-side media applications.
• Experience using build runners / compilation tools for multi-platform projects.
• Strong independent contributor with teamwork and mentoring abilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain our JavaScript player that drives our streaming experience.
• Optimize our player for resource-constrained platforms.
• Create and review architecture and technical designs.
• Maintain understanding of code to identify, research and fix issues.
• Collaborate with application and services teams to define device requirements.
• Lead strategies for quality and deployment stability including testing and telemetry.
• Develop project build system and CI as needed.
• Provide mentorship to other developers on the team.
• Drive high development standards.

Skills

JavaScript

Web technologies

Streaming tech

Cross-platform

CI/CD

Teamwork

AI-assisted tools

Education

BS/BA in CS or Eng

Tools

PlayReady

Widevine

HLS

DASH

Job description

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

Media Engineering builds the software and systems that prepare media content and metadata for the Disney Streaming platform - providing the best possible playback experience to our viewers.

Media Engineering handles audio, video, and metadata content from ingest through publish - for normalization, processing, and packaging - supporting operator tools and automation for a scalable workflow. We build logic across players and back-end services to measure, control, and optimize playback across our stack.

Our team is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to help us deliver excellent streaming experiences for Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ as a developer of our web-based JavaScript player. Our team is responsible for playback across many devices including browsers, televisions, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes. You will have the opportunity to lead in the design and implementation of our cross-platform JavaScript player that runs Disney+, Hulu and ESPN on these devices.

We’re looking for an experienced engineer who has video player and cross platform development experience. Excellent fluency in JavaScript and web development is required. You should have a passion for coding and debugging hard problems, and an eagerness to help us deliver seamless video to our subscribers. Being a Senior engineer, you will get to own large features, lead the technical direction of our work, and mentor and provide technical expertise to other engineers. You will work closely with other technical teams in the application layer and backend video services to deliver features.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain our JavaScript player that drives our streaming experience
• Optimize our player to perform well for resource constrained platforms
• Create and review architecture and technical designs
• Maintain a strong understanding of our code to identify, research and address issues
• Collaborate with application development teams, services engineering teams and product management to help understand and explain device limitations and requirements
• Lead in strategies to ensure the quality and stability of our deployments, including testing strategies and telemetry approaches
• Develop our project’s build system and continuous integration system as needed
• Provide technical expertise or mentoring to developers on our team
• Drive high development standards

Basic Qualifications

• BS or BA in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of full software development lifecycle experience
• Highly fluent in JavaScript and web technologies
• Experience developing for web browsers & other web-based client devices
• Experience in Streaming technologies, such as:
• HLS (preferred) or DASH
• DRM technologies like PlayReady or Widevine
• Adaptive Bitrate Streaming Algorithms
• Caption and subtitle formats such as CEA-608 / 708
• Codecs AVC, HEVC, AAC, EAC3
• Experience developing and optimizing high-performance client-side media applications
• Experience using build runners / compilation tools for multi-platform projects
• Strong individual contributor with a drive to learn and patience to teach others
• Great communication and collaboration skills and a strong teamwork ethic
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools effectively

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing for living room devices, e.g. Samsung, LG, Hisense, Vizio.
• Experience developing for gaming consoles (e.g. Playstation, Switch), Android devices (e.g.FireTV), or similar devices

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in Seattle, WA is $150,900.00 to $202,400.00 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.

Disclaimer

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.

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