Lead Software Engineer – Applied AI & Machine Learning

Job Summary:

Lead Software Engineer – Applied AI & Machine Learning

About the Role & Team

On any given day at Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming our media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to enhance flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

• Building the future of Disney’s media: DEEP&T Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
• Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
• Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

The Commerce, Growth & Identity (CGI) organization is dedicated to three business-critical areas at Disney that will help transform its media business. We build innovative and cutting-edge capabilities to drive subscriptions, engagement, and monetization across Disney’s streaming and digital products. We enable the wide range of Disney brands to connect and engage with consumers through a unified identity, powered by shared services that are trustworthy and seamless to integrate with.

The Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology (DEEP&T) Commerce, Growth and Identity Client Engineering organization delivers experiences across Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star+ built on a common platform and shared technology. We are fast-paced and fast-growing organization that shares knowledge and code for initiatives throughout Disney! Our mission: Building inclusive user-centered experiences that welcome users, guiding them through a seamless journey from login to sign up, and facilitating effortless account management. As a member on DEEP&T Web Commerce team you’ll build the core sign-up, purchase, and subscription management experiences of our Web platform.

You will serve as a high level technical resource and “go-to” person, solving sophisticated technical challenges and finding opportunities to improve systems, products, and services!

What You Will Do

• Integrate generative AI (artificial intelligence) to power business impact on frontend clients.
• Apply machine learning models on large scale data sets to boost conversions on Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.
• Improve engineering efficiency by using development data to improve developer workflows, code quality, and build/deploy processes.
• Discover applications for machine learning and artificial intelligence for Disney’s streaming brands.
• Collaborate with engineering teams, program managers, and product managers to deliver high impact features.
• Mentor and onboard team members on ML (machine learning) and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 7+ years of experience in a technical field
• Bachelor’s in CS (or related field) required
• Proficient with Javascript and Python.
• Worked with models like Vertex/Gemini, ChatGPT, Nova, or Deepseek.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills

• MS or higher degree in computer science or related field
• 4+ years of working experience using applied AI to solve real-world business problems and deliver value.
• Experience with embeddings, RAG, RLHF, prompt engineering, and fine tuning.
• Knowledge of industry tools like PyTorch, Tensorflow, LangChain, and LlamaIndex.

Education

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science (or related field) and/or equivalent work experience required

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA is $167,700 to $224,900 per year, is $175,800 to $235,700 per year in Seattle, WA is $183,700 to $246,400 per year in San Francisco, CA and is $175,800 to $235,700 per year in New York City, NY. 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 the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.