Lead Software Engineer - Java

Lead Software Engineer – Java

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 worldwide. 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 globally. Our technologists design and build the products and platforms that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come. Disney’s technology and products are the signature doorway for fans’ connections with the company’s brands and stories – Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, ABC, ABC News, and many more.

We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and solve complex technical problems.

As a Lead Software Engineer on Disney’s Content Platforms team, you will architect and deliver resilient, scalable systems that power accounting workflows for payments to content creators and rights holders across Disney Movies and TV. This role blends hands‑on technical leadership with strategic influence—transforming business requirements into innovative solutions that support Disney’s global content monetization ecosystem. You will collaborate across engineering, product, and finance teams to ensure our platforms meet the highest standards of performance, security, and reliability.

• Enjoy working with teams of talented and passionate people
• Have excellent communication skills
• Demonstrate determination in finding solutions to complex puzzles
• Curious about how content goes from inception to consumers
• Employ positive thinking and work constructively in a diverse team setting
• Enjoy transforming business strategy into innovative products & platforms
• Value learning and being exposed to new experiences
• Love working in a startup culture
• Find the Media & Entertainment industry fascinating

• Technical Leadership:
  Set engineering standards, review code, and guide design decisions to ensure quality and maintainability.
• System Expertise:
  Maintain deep knowledge of core accounting systems and their integration with upstream and downstream services.
• Architecture & Scalability:
  Drive platform performance, resiliency, and scalability for high‑volume, mission‑critical applications.
• Cross‑Team
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with product managers and stakeholders to refine requirements and deliver solutions spanning multiple teams.
• Strategic Influence:
  Contribute to technical strategy, roadmap planning, and adoption of emerging technologies.
• Mentorship:
  Coach engineers on advanced technical topics and foster a culture of continuous learning.
• Innovation:
  Research and evangelize modern architecture patterns, cloud‑native practices, and automation strategies.
• Incident Leadership:
  Lead troubleshooting and resolution of complex, cross‑functional issues.

• BS in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 7+ years of software engineering experience with proven leadership in designing and delivering large‑scale, fault‑tolerant systems.
• Expertise in Java and frameworks such as Spring, plus experience with RESTful API design.
• Strong knowledge of asynchronous programming models and distributed systems using Apache Kafka.
• Hands‑on experience with AWS services (EKS, SQS, RDS, MSK, etc.).
• Proficiency in CI/CD methodology and best practices for testing and code quality.
• Ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly and influence decisions across teams.
• Passion for mentoring and working in collaborative, diverse environments.

• Experience with financial or accounting systems and SAP integrations.
• Knowledge of observability tools and performance tuning for high‑throughput applications.
• Familiarity with security and compliance standards in enterprise environments.

The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA is $152,200 to $204,100 per year. The base pay may vary based on internal equity, geographic region, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Employment type:

Full time. Position located in Glendale, CA, USA.