AI Architect, Distinguished Software Engineer

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.

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.

Job Summary:

You will define and evolve the end‑to‑end architecture of Disney’s Ads Technology Platform—spanning ad serving, programmatic exchange and unified selection, identity & privacy, forecasting & pacing, measurement, and AI‑driven optimization. In this strategic role, you will shape the long-term technical direction of our ad-serving, targeting, bidding, and measurement systems, driving innovations that impact billions of ad impressions and generate critical revenue for the business. As a technical leader at the highest level of our engineering organization, you will partner with senior engineers, product leaders, and business stakeholders to define and realize a scalable, privacy-safe, and intelligent ads platform. You’ll be responsible for driving architectural excellence across distributed systems, machine learning infrastructure, real-time decision engines, and data platforms.

You will collaborate with stakeholders to understand software engineering and data needs and establish architecture standards. You will act as subject matter expert and be responsible for working with a talented team of software and data engineers to drive delivery of solutions for our business and technical partners. You will also provide mentorship and professional growth with the goal to build our next generation of engineering leaders.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Architect end-to-end AdTech platforms for real-time ad decisioning, pricing, and forecasting.
• Build scalable data pipelines for audience segmentation, targeting, and measurement.
• Lead the design of ML models and APIs for creative optimization and outcome-based targeting.
• Partner with product, data science, and sales teams to maximize yield and advertiser outcomes.
• Set best practices for data governance, model monitoring, and responsible AI.
• Mentor engineers and influence technical strategy across teams.
• Drive innovation by evaluating emerging technologies and recommending adoption where appropriate, both in software development and data management.
• Oversee the evaluation and selection of tools, frameworks, and platforms to support both software development and data management efforts.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards related to both software and data architecture, as well as data governance and security.
• Act as a technical evangelist, promoting a culture of excellence and thought leadership within the organization, encompassing both software engineering and data management domains.
• Participate in executive-level discussions and decision-making processes related to technology strategy and investment, providing insights and recommendations for both software and data architecture initiatives.
• Database Design: Design and implement database structures, ensuring scalability, performance, and adherence to industry best practices.
• Data Integration: Develop strategies for seamless data integration across various systems and platforms, promoting interoperability and data consistency.
• Data Security: Establish and enforce data security measures, including access controls, encryption, and compliance with privacy regulations.
• Performance Optimization: Monitor and optimize database performance, addressing issues related to speed, efficiency, and reliability.
• Metadata Management: Oversee the management of metadata, ensuring accurate documentation and understanding of data elements, relationships, and lineage.
• Training and Education: Conduct training sessions for staff on software and data-related tools, best practices, and data governance principles.
• Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation for software and data architecture, including data models, schemas, and architecture decisions.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, or a related field.
• 15+ years of engineering experience, with 5+ in AI/ML and AdTech data systems.
• Strong coding skills.
• Expertise in big data & streaming frameworks and cloud platforms.
• Hands-on experience with ML frameworks.
• Proven ability to design high-scale, real-time systems in AdTech, MarTech, or related domains.
• Excellent communicator who can bridge technical and business needs.

The hiring range for this position in Seattle, WA is $304,900.00 to $408,900.00 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.