Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

Job :

Location:

San Francisco, California;
Morrisville, North Carolina, United States

Business:
Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

Date posted:
Jun. 15, 2026

You will be focused on research and development for future generation image and video coding especially through the application of ML/AI methods. You will participate and represent Disney at AOM and connect with academic research groups, conferences and other standard bodies such as MPEG, IETF, and VQEG. You will be part of a team conducting innovative research and advanced development involving advanced computer vision algorithms and applied ML/AI techniques to address tasks such as media enhancement, understanding, analysis, compression, and enhancing storytelling through innovative media experiences.

You will have the opportunity to conduct multidisciplinary research and implementation in video technologies, including video processing, encoding and E2E video streaming for both live and on-demand use cases, and design video algorithms and software workflows for the purposes of achieving velocity, scale and efficiency to further optimize our media platform. As a domain focused Principal Engineer, you are expected to be a thought leader and technical domain expert both within and beyond the organization.

You will be driving architectural innovation and significant IP generation both internally and at the standards level, directly influencing our strategy and representing the organization in technical discussions. Your leadership is visionary and strategic and your decisions are expected to shape our long‑term strategy and product development with contributions critical to initiatives and innovation. You will be regularly working with senior leaders to drive major technical advancements.

Our CMT team is global, with resources from Zurich, Bangalore, throughout the US and in Beijing; coordination and collaboration across these is expected.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in related field
• Deep expertise in video coding standards such as AV1, AV2, AVC, HEVC, VVC
• Strong algorithm background for both traditional block based and emerging neural network based video coding tools
• A strong background in applying deep learning techniques to video processing tasks such as video enhancement, video understanding, video coding and analysis
• A proven track record of IP generation
• In‑depth understanding and experience with multimedia stack (e.g. video formats, encoders/decoders, video playback/players), multimedia frameworks, and video coding/processing methods
• A proven track record of success and demonstrable experience in research or advanced development in video coding / media processing or adjacent fields (video quality, computer vision, computer graphics)

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge and experience with C/C++ and Python
• Extensive experience in deploying and optimizing AI/ML models and frameworks, including state‑of‑the‑art latent variable generative models and optimization for finite‑precision operations, is strongly preferred
• Applied knowledge of Media Metadata and Processing
• Applied knowledge of A  algorithms and transport formats
• Knowledge of gStreamer Media Framework
• Experience with building web‑apps/dashboards for data visualization
• Experience with working with Dockers
• Web service development, REST APIs, XML/JSON
• Release management, CD/CI tools, Git/Git Hub
• High‑load, highly scalable and distributed applications

Required Education

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 10+ years of directly related industry experience in video codecs

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco, CA is $206,400 - $276,700 per year and in Morrisville, NC is $175,500 - $235,400 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…