Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer at Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology in Seattle, WA (onsite), where you will help engineering teams improve system monitoring, data collection, and decision-making. In the Observability & Insights group, you will build and evolve telemetry, dashboards, alerting, insights pipelines, and developer experience tooling that support reliable, performant, and transparent distributed systems. The role also emphasizes modern AI-assisted development practices to improve engineering efficiency and workflow productivity.

What you’ll build and own

• Lead the development of multi-component solutions supporting observability tools, data pipelines, and engineering systems.
• Set architectural direction and drive cross-team collaboration to deliver large-scope solutions for improved monitoring, data collection, and analysis.
• Plan, break down, and document technical and operational requirements for engineering data models and integrations, enabling parallel execution across multiple teams.
• Own delivery of data-driven insights that improve system performance and reliability against customer and operational objectives.

How you’ll lead

• Resolve critical issues and perform root cause analysis, considering the impact of design and implementation decisions across interconnected systems.
• Influence and enforce operational standards for code quality, documentation, and team processes.
• Proactively mentor senior engineers and peers.

AI-assisted development focus

You will establish and champion practices for AI-assisted development that improve engineering efficiency and workflow productivity across teams, and drive adoption of modern AI tools in practical ways across the engineering lifecycle.

Required experience

• Minimum 7 years of professional software development experience.
• Experience architecting, building, and maintaining production applications using modern languages such as Golang, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, or Rust, and frameworks such as React or Angular.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience leading others through complex technical problems.
• Experience with modern development practices, including version control (for example, GitHub) and CI/CD or configuration-based deployments (for example, Kubernetes, Terraform, or CloudFormation).
• Experience leading implementations on observability platforms such as Datadog, Splunk, or New Relic.
• Hands-on experience with data platforms and databases such as Databricks, Snowflake, MySQL, or PostgreSQL.
• Experience delivering projects spanning multiple teams in large-scale engineering environments.
• Experience with distributed systems or streaming platforms, with client-server architecture knowledge considered a plus.
• Experience using data or observability tools to drive engineering improvements across an organization.
• BS or MS in a quantitative field (Computer Science, Engineering, Math/Statistics, or similar).

Technologies you may use

Golang, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, Rust, React, Angular, GitHub, CI/CD, Kubernetes, Terraform, CloudFormation, Datadog, Splunk, New Relic, Databricks, Snowflake, MySQL, PostgreSQL

Compensation and benefits

• Salary range: USD 158,100 - 222,000 per year
• Bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package
• Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits

Pay transparency: The hiring range for this position in Glendale, CA is $158,100 - $211,900 per year and in Seattle/NYC is $165,600 - $222,000 per year.

Additional notes: This position is with Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC, part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology. Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. For information on Disney guidelines on the use of AI for candidates, click here. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs.