Director, Core Player Engineering

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.

We’re seeking a Director of Core Player Engineering to oversee our holistic media player strategy across VOD and Live, across devices including mobile, living room, console, web, and set‑top boxes.

Accomplish business objectives including feature changes in players, expanded device coverage, and global distribution.

• Provide vision and strategic direction for Core Player Engineering, spanning device pipelines, player engines, browser integrations, and client applications, to provide cohesive media player strategy across mobile, web, living room devices, and set‑top boxes.
• Accomplish business objectives including feature changes in players, expanded device coverage, and global distribution.
• Lead leaders: manage and develop senior managers and technical leads across multiple playback domains.
• Champion observability, data‑driven decision making, and playback quality metrics to continuously improve reliability and user experience.
• Ensure playback systems are built for scale, resiliency, and low latency, supporting both live and on‑demand streaming globally.
• Guide teams working on ads and monetization, with a premium on HLS interstitials and integrations with ad tech.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with backend streaming infrastructure, CDN, DRM/security, and client teams to deliver an integrated experience.
• Recruit, develop, and retain world‑class engineers and leaders, building a culture of innovation, accountability, and technical excellence.

• Manage team roadmap and team execution, ensuring date commitments are met in the greater context of projects, across our Core Player teams – 40%
• Ensure engineering excellence and quality – 20%
• Drive strategic player strategy to achieve business objectives – 20%
• Lead leaders and senior engineers including career management and development – 20%

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

• Minimum of 12 years of related work experience
• Driving architecture excellence across C++, Rust, Kotlin, and JavaScript ecosystems, guiding teams with strong technical judgment.
• Expertise in HLS, DASH, CMAF, and low‑level playback implementations.
• Leading large, distributed engineering organizations in media playback or adjacent domains.
• Driving end‑to‑end ownership of media systems, from device‑level pipelines to player engines.
• Strong executive presence and ability to align technical direction with business strategy.
• Familiarity with Exo Player, AVPlayer, MSE/EME, streaming protocols (HLS, DASH, CMAF), ads, and device‑level porting.
• High‑scale streaming media, including live events and global delivery.
• Inspiring leaders and engineers, fostering collaboration and continuous improvement.

• 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 is $239,700 – $321,400 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on a 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.

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