Lead Software Engineer

Department Description

“We Power the Magic!” That’s our motto at Disney Experiences (DX). Our team creates world‑class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands including Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club.

We are responsible for the end‑to‑end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digital‑led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation and Merchandise lines of business as well as other initiatives including My Disney Experience  and Hey, Disney!

This role sits in the Retail, Restaurant & Supply Chain Technology organization within Technology & Digital for Disney Experiences. It works closely with a diverse team of engineers, business stakeholders, and service owners from across the company.

The Lead Software Engineer will report to the Manager, Software Engineering.

• Lead and personally build (hands‑on coding expected) scalable, well‑documented software systems, applications, APIs, and RESTful services — from technical specs through delivery — using Java, AWS/cloud‑native patterns, relational and No
  
  SQL databases, messaging, and orchestration technologies.
• Champion AI‑driven development and architecture, embedding AI‑powered tools (Git Hub Copilot, Cursor, Amazon Q, Claude, Kiro) across the software lifecycle — from design and coding to testing and troubleshooting — to accelerate delivery and elevate quality, while shaping how the team adopts AI in its engineering practices.
• Set architectural direction by translating complex functional, technical, and business requirements into solution architecture, coordinating with Architecture and IT stakeholders, evaluating technology choices (software, hardware, Saas/PaaS), and developing proof‑of‑concepts and roadmaps that align applications with reference architecture.
• Own dining and bookable experience reservation systems, maintaining deep expertise in inventory, availability, offers, and reservations, and proactively preventing overbooking issues that could impact guests.
• Integrate and support complex systems across databases, messaging, and orchestration platforms, and manage AWS infrastructure to keep production and lower environments reliable.
• Drive engineering quality and continuous improvement through code and design reviews, automated testing, end‑to‑end troubleshooting and root‑cause analysis, and proactive recommendations to processes, technologies, and coding practices — maintaining focus and sound judgment in a dynamic, fast‑paced, cross‑functional environment.
• Collaborate cross‑functional with product owners, engineering partners, delivery managers, business analysts, and other architecture teams to align solutions with current and future business needs, estimate delivery, and communicate the team’s value.

• 7+ years of experience building large‑scale software systems and web applications, leading engineering teams and projects, with hands‑on experience in solution and application architecture.
• Expertise with enterprise architecture repository tools (e.g., tools similar to Blue Dolphin or LeanIX)
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑domain architectural initiatives and guide decision processes
• Experience developing and managing architecture taxonomies, patterns, and standards.
• Proven ability to align architecture with strategic objectives, OKRs, and scorecards.
• Hands‑on familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), API‑led integration, security‑by‑design, and data architecture principles.
• Strong hands‑on skills in Java 21+, Spring, microservices, and RESTful APIs.
• Deep experience with AWS, databases (DynamoDB, Aurora,…