Software Engineer II

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.

Product Engineering

Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity.

Job Summary:

Describe what the person will do in the role - how he/she will impact the organization.

• As a Software Engineer II on the Device Control and Automation Frameworks team, you will build out efficiency tools that bring benefits across developer, QA, product, and UX teams. You will play a key role in advancing a platform that empowers engineers to remotely manage and test streaming devices. Operating as an intermediate-level professional, you will begin taking ownership of software programs within the team, building solution components for problems of medium scope and complexity. Your contribution will help elevate developer productivity, save engineers time, and contribute to the seamless streaming experiences enjoyed by millions of users.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

Summarize job responsibilities, core deliverables and major duties. What is required for the position to exist?  

-Focus on major areas of work, typically 20% or more of role

% of Time

• 60% - You will build an innovative tool for managing and automating streaming hardware and for creating device labs for Disney engineering teams. In this capacity, you will focus on coding at the component level to solve moderately complex technical issues and contribute to system goals.
• 20% - You will have the opportunity to work closely with client developers to build industry leading solutions to enable engineers to remotely access and control streaming devices. You will efficiently write code, write tests, debug, and support owned software throughout its lifecycle.
• 20% - Your day to day involves gathering feature requests from users, developing and testing your solutions, and deploying them into production. Additionally, you will review code to uphold maintainability standards and serve as a technical resource for less experienced software engineers.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Minimum and Preferred. Inclusive of Licenses/Certs (include functional experience as well as behavioral attributes and/or leadership capabilities)

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in a technical field, with a developing knowledge base in key areas of software engineering.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, capable of receiving and transmitting semi-routine information requiring explanation within the technical team.
• Solid understanding of computer science fundamentals (data structure, algorithms, etc.).
• Programming language and scripting skills with experience in writing modern JavaScript or TypeScript applications.
• Proficiency in analytical thinking to solve a range of straightforward problems and analyze possible solutions using standard procedures.
• Process-driven and very detail-oriented, with the ability to multi-task and context-switch with ease in a fast-paced, and ever-evolving organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with common frontend and backend frameworks and tools such as React, NodeJS, ExpressJS, and RxJS.
• Experience with reverse engineering and working with streaming hardware such as TV, gaming console and set-top box.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and AWS services.
• Familiarity with developer tooling or remote device management platforms.

Required Education  

• Bachelor’s degree in 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 New York, NY and Seattle, WA is $123,000 - $165,000 per year and Glendale, CA is $117,500 - $157,500 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.