Lead Backend Engineer (Python)

Department/Group Overview:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The Product & Data Engineering team is responsible for end to end development for Disney’s world-class consumer-facing products, including streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, and digital products & experiences across ESPN, Marvel, Disney Studios, NatGeo, and ABC News. The team drives innovation at scale for millions of consumers around the world across Apple, Android, Smart TVs, game consoles, and the web, with our platforms powering core experiences like personalization, search, messaging and data.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working for Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

• Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
• Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
• Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

We are seeking a motivated and experienced lead engineer for the experience curation platform team for our Disney Streaming apps (Disney+, Hulu and Star+). As an engineer on this team, you will work with a team of peers to design, build, and manage our powerful curation systems that power the end-user experience for Disney Streaming. This team has an enormous impact on millions of users of our streaming applications. As a lead engineer, you will be asked to provide technical leadership in driving innovation and delivering high-quality features.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and maintain our curation platform technology to enhance the user experience for Disney Streaming customers
• Participate in architecture design for our frontend tooling and our backend experience API and find creative solutions for our internal stakeholders’ requirements
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams like Product and Program to identify curation-related business requirements and provide technical solutions
• Mentor, empower and provide career growth opportunities for team members
• Foster and maintain effective communication channels with your team members, stakeholders, and leadership.
• Monitor and improve the performance and reliability of our curation API and tooling infrastructure
• Leave systems better than you found them

Basic Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on building well-designed architecture, shipping robust code and contributing to a positive team environment
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience
• Demonstrated success in being part of a team problem-solving, designing and implementing software at scale
• Mentorship experience & a desire to help your fellow engineers get better at what they do
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience presenting and explaining complex technical ideas to peers and leadership
• Biased towards action, with experience delivering high-quality software solutions on time, at scale and within budget.

Preferred Qualifications:

• JavaScript, TypeScript, Node JS, React JS, Python, Django, Kafka, Cypress

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in New York is $156,300-$209,600 per year, in Santa Monica, CA is $149,300-$220,600 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.