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Lead Software Engineer

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Job ID 10084446 Location San Francisco, California, United States / Bristol, Connecticut, United States / Santa Monica, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States Business Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology Date posted Apr. 01, 2024

Job Summary:

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.

Working at Disney for the ESPN Connected Devices team is unlike anything else. That’s because we’re always finding new ways to interact with fans – however and wherever they connect with sports, news, politics, comics, and games. When you have the latest technology, game-changing ideas and world-class talent on your team, every day is extraordinary.  We get to develop new features from start to finish that millions of fans interact with daily.  Get to feel the excitement of showing off your work to friends and family on some of the most heavily used apps in the marketplace.

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.

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.

This is a hands-on engineering position developing OTT applications for the Android Ecosystem in Java/Kotlin. In this role, you will collaborate with a cross-functional team of Product Managers, Designers, Mobile/Web/Backend Engineers, and Content Creators to conceptualize and develop world-class ESPN apps. Based on your experience, you will apply technical expertise to manage individual project priorities, deadlines and deliverables and will design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and enhance software solutions. You will architect reusable solutions that are shared across both the mobile and tv ESPN apps. You may lead others to solve complex problems and provide oversight and direction to other software engineers.  As the lead on this team, you will also be responsible for architectural decisions for the connected tv application.  Additionally, this position will have people management responsibilities.  This includes mentoring and providing guidance to engineers reporting directly to you.  As well as performing end of year reviews.

Responsibilities:

  • Designing, Coding, PR Reviews, Writing Tests

  • Collaborating with QA and Automation Team

  • Interacting with the Product Development team to review requirements and discuss feature development

Basic Qualifications:

  • BS, BA, or advanced degree in computer science, engineering or its equivalent

  • Up to 7+ years hands-on professional experience with Android development

  • Experience working a significant consumer app that is currently available in marketplace

  • Expertise of object-oriented, functional, and functional reactive patterns and concepts

  • Expert understanding of HTTP/S, APIs, and web services

  • Solid foundation and understanding of dynamic multi-threaded mobile apps

  • Solid understanding of Android app development lifecycle including Google Play Store compliance policies and submissions requirements

  • Ability to collaborate in a small, productive development team as well as the larger engineering organization

  • Motivated self-starter with the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills; can effectively articulate complex ideas and influence others through well-reasoned explanations

  • Write efficient, reliable, and maintainable code whether implementing architectural improvements, user-facing features, or fixing defects

  • Troubleshoot and resolve issues, problems, and errors encountered across our various platforms

  • Analyze and optimize application code for efficiency, reliability and performance

  • Understand product architecture, assisting other Software Architects as necessary

  • Manage multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment

  •  Work with minimal technical supervision and supplemental engineering support

  •  Embrace a highly collaborative team that rewards quality code and effective communication

  • Operate as an expert resource to other Software Engineers, providing an open learning environment for cross-team knowledge sharing

  • Solves unique and complex problems that have a broad impact on the business.

  • Contributes to the development of functional strategy

  • Consistently involved in major work efforts of strategic importance, working directly with senior levels, often multidisciplinary in nature

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Familiar with multiple Application architectures (i.e. MVVM, MVI)

  • Experience building TV applications

Experience with:

  • Kotlin

  • RxJava or Coroutines

  • Jetpack Compose

  • Dagger/Hilt

  • Retrofit

  • Image Loading (i.e. Glide, Picasso, Coil)

#DisneyTech


The hiring range for this position in San Francisco, California is $163,500 - $219,200 per year and in Santa Monica, California is $149,300 - 200,200 per year and in New York and Seattle, Washington is $156,300 - $209,600. 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 & ESPN Technology:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology (DE&E Technology) provides the technological backbone and product development for Disney’s two media business units, while helping to keep the company at the vanguard of innovation – enabling the Company to continuously leverage technology to enhance storytelling and creativity, while delivering scalability, flexibility, and efficiency for its businesses.

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 & ESPN Technology.

Disney Streaming Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. 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.

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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