Lead AI/Machine Learning Engineer

The Disney Decision Science + Integration (DDSI) is a consulting team that supports clients across The Walt Disney Company, including Disney Experiences (Parks & Resorts worldwide, Cruise Line, Consumer Products, etc.), Disney Entertainment (ABC, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Theatrical, Disney Streaming Services, etc.), ESPN, and Corporate Finance. Key partners to the DDSI organization include Marketing, Finance, Business Development, Research, and Operations. We develop, analyze, and execute strategies and improve the value proposition for our Guests, Cast Members, and Shareholders. The team leverages technology, data analytics, optimization, statistical and econometric modeling to explore opportunities, shape business decisions and drive business value.

The Decision Science Transformation team within DDSI is seeking a results-oriented and hands-on AI/ML Engineering Manager to lead the design, development, and deployment of high-impact AI initiatives that unlock measurable business value. In this role, you will lead complex, cross-functional projects with a strong emphasis on reuse, scalability, reliability, and performance. You will design, develop, and implement robust, agentic AI/ML solutions. Success in this role also requires close collaboration with product, data science, and business stakeholders.

This position is in office.

What You’ll Do :

• Design, build, and deploy complex, scalable AI solutions, including multi-step agentic workflows and multi-agent systems.

• Develop and orchestrate AI agents capable of complex reasoning, planning, and dynamic tool use to solve business problems.

• Own the end-to-end development lifecycle of AI models and applications – from implementation, rigorous testing, deployment, and operational monitoring – ensuring timely and successful completion.

• Write clean, maintainable, and production-ready code for AI/ML model training, evaluation, and serving.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, client teams, vendors, and other partners to define requirements, adapt plans, and ensure successful outcomes.

• Act as a hands-on technical expert, guiding design decisions and ensuring adherence to best practices in AI development, LLMOps, testing, and deployment.

• Design, implement, and manage robust evaluation strategies and frameworks specifically for Large Language Models (LLMs) and the agentic systems built upon them, assessing model quality, task completion reliability, safety, and effectiveness.

• Identify and mitigate technical risks and roadblocks impeding project delivery.

• Represent the technical aspects of your initiatives with senior leaders and partners.

• Contribute hands-on to development and troubleshooting, especially on challenging technical problems, to ensure project momentum.

• Lead research and development efforts into emerging tools and technologies, with a particular focus on advances in AI, and drive their adoption where appropriate.

• May manage direct reports and/or lead junior team members, which include professional staff specializing in different technical disciplines and may also manage the work of further professional staff in a matrixed organization.

Basic Qualifications:

• 7 + more years of combined experience designing, building, and deploying AI/ML solutions, including 1-2 years of hands-on experience with GenAI technologies.

• Experience with traditional ML algorithms and statistical modeling techniques.

• Proficiency in prompt engineering techniques and approaches.

• Strong proficiency in core programming languages used in AI/ML (e.g., Python).

• Deep understanding of AI agent architectures, including concepts like planning, memory, and tool integration (e.g., ReAct).

• Expertise with the AI/ML ecosystem, including LLM application and agentic frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, LlamaIndex), and supporting libraries (e.g., Pydantic, Streamlit).

• Solid understanding and practical experience applying MLOps principles and utilizing associated tools for model deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management of both models and agents.

• Proven experience developing and deploying solutions on at least one major cloud platform (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

• Experience using or evaluating Large Language Models with code generation assistance tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Amazon Q Developer, Cursor).

• Familiarity with Vector Databases (e.g., Milvus, Pinecone, ChromaDB).

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to tackle complex technical challenges and navigate ambiguity.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts and drive alignment across cross-functional teams to achieve delivery goals.

• Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with a diverse set of clients and partners of varying job levels.

• Experience working effectively in a matrixed organization where the ability to influence others is critical to success.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification(s) in AI, machine learning, or relevant cloud platforms.

• Experience with multi-agent system design and orchestration.

• Familiarity/competency in data science topics such as statistics, optimization, and/or econometrics.

• Strong understanding of software development methodologies and tools including Agile, Git, CICD, MLOps/DevOps, Docker, SSH, Linux.

• Experience in using AWS, Databricks and Snowflake cloud data platforms.

• Experience in Domino Data Labs AI Platform.

• Demonstrated ability to develop and mentor team members, fostering a collaborative and high-performing team environment.

• Experience providing internal client services.

• Strong focus on innovation and continuous improvement, proactively seeking ways to enhance processes and outcomes.

• Familiarity with Disney business domain knowledge.

Required Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Education:

• Master's degree or Ph.D in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience.

The hiring range for this position in Burbank, CA is $171,600 to $230,100 per year and in Seattle, WA is $179,700 to $241,000 and in New York, NY is $179,700 to $241,000 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.