Sr Product Software Engineer

ESPN; New York (NY); On-site; USD 151,000 - 202,000; Full time

Job summary

ESPN seeks a senior backend engineer to help design and build high-scale services powering our media platforms. You will work on video pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and data systems across streaming and editorial teams.

Join our NYC-based team to ship reliable code, debug across service boundaries, and mentor teammates while leveraging JVM, AWS, and AI-assisted tools.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience building production systems.
• Strong JVM fundamentals (Java/Scala).
• Real experience with distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of AWS services (DynamoDB, SNS/SQS, S3) and PostgreSQL.
• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (Cursor, Claude, Kiro, or similar).
• Ability to debug across service boundaries and communicate clearly.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services that process and serve media at scale.
• Write code, review code, and debug production issues.
• Work on systems handling video pipelines across multiple streaming platforms.
• Collaborate with other teams when our work intersects.
• Help teammates grow by sharing knowledge and feedback.

Skills

5+ years backend engineering

JVM fundamentals

Distributed systems

AWS services

AI-assisted development tools

Debugging across services

Clear communication

Tools

Kafka

Kubernetes

Observability tooling

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.

The Work

We build and operate Disney's end-to-end media platform - acquisition, processing, metadata, and delivery readiness. When someone hits play on Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN+, our systems make it happen. Fast, reliable, at scale.

This isn't a greenfield project where you'll spend months in planning meetings. We have real traffic, real constraints, and real problems to solve. You'll ship code that matters.

What You'll Actually Do

• Design and build backend services that process and serve media at scale


• Write code, review code, debug production issues- the usual engineering loop


• Work on systems handling video pipelines across multiple streaming platforms


• Collaborate with other teams when our work intersects (it often does)


• Help teammates grow - share knowledge, give honest feedback, be someone others can learn from.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience building production systems


• Strong JVM fundamentals - we recently moved to JDK 25 (Java or Scala, ideally both)


• Real experience with distributed systems - not just \"I read about it\"


• Solid understanding of AWS services (DynamoDB, SNS/SQS, S3), PostgreSQL


• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (Cursor, Claude, Kiro, or similar)- we use them every day and expect engineers to leverage AI to move faster


• You can debug across service boundaries and actually enjoy figuring out why something broke


• You communicate clearly - in code, in docs, in conversation

Good To Have

• Experience with Kafka or similar event streaming platforms


• Background in media/video processing pipelines


• Hands-on Kubernetes experience (deploying, scaling, debugging workloads)


• Familiarity with observability tooling (distributed tracing, metrics, logging)


• You've operated what you've built and care about how it runs in production

What We're Not Looking For

• Engineers who need detailed specs for every task


• People who throw code over the wall and hope someone else deals with production


• Anyone who thinks \"that's not my job\" when something's broken

Why This Might Be Interesting

You'd be working on infrastructure that powers some of the biggest streaming platforms in the world. The scale is real. The problems are interesting. And you'd be joining a team that actually ships.

Our new NYC office is pretty great too.

The hiring range for this position in New York 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.

To learn more about Disney's guidelines on the use of AI for candidates, click here.

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. 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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