Principal Software Engineer
Company: The Walt Disney Company
Location: Santa Monica
Posted on: April 2, 2026
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Job Description:
Job Posting Title: Principal Software Engineer Req ID: 10144164
Job Description: Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology
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.
Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:
1.Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are
designing and building the products and platforms that will power
our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to
come. 2.Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology
and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections
with the company’s brands and stories. Disney. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC
News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched
stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions
of people globally. 3.Innovation: We develop and implement
groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms,
and solve complex and distinctive technical problems. Job Summary:
Join us at Metadata Engineering, a driving force within the Media
Engineering organization, where we fuel the magic of Disney
Entertainment and ESPN Technology. Our team is dedicated to
crafting, refining, and disseminating content metadata across our
platforms with unparalleled precision. Imagine being part of a
mission to ensure that every piece of content is not just
showcased, but gloriously represented, enhancing the viewer
experience across Disney Streaming platforms and beyond. We're not
just revolutionizing streaming video; we're reshaping it entirely.
We're on the lookout for an exceptional Principal Software Engineer
to elevate our team to new heights. As a key player, you'll
spearhead the technical architecture, implementation, and
enhancement of services vital to managing rights and availabilities
across our extensive catalog, including Disney, Hulu, and more.
Your passion for iterative improvement will be crucial as we
continually refine our software systems, domain stack, and data
organization. You'll drive agile and continuous development,
ensuring our systems maintain peak performance and reliability.
Join us and immerse yourself in cutting-edge technologies such as
Django/Python, Springboot/Java, MySQL, Postgres, and harness the
power of AWS native resources like Kinesis, DynamoDB, S3, SNS, and
SQS, alongside Kafka. Be at the forefront of innovation and shape
the future of streaming entertainment with us. Responsibilities and
Duties of the Role: Define technical direction, strategy, and
technology adoption for the Content Metadata domain across Disney,
Hulu, and more. Lead architectural reviews and oversee Descriptive,
Rights, and Availabilities of the Content Catalog. Design
well-architected solutions, and iterate development following agile
best practices. Develop data-driven software systems aligned with
business needs. Drive performance and cost optimization through
metrics analysis. Advocate for best engineering practices, ensuring
code quality and robust testing. Collaborate on novel solutions and
innovate by challenging existing architectural choices. Ensure
quality delivery by monitoring progress and directing when
necessary. Expertise in technologies such as Springboot/Java,
Django/Python, AWS services (Kinesis, DynamoDB, S3, SNS, SQS),
MySQL, Postgres, and Kafka. Basic Qualifications: Minimum of 10
years related work experience. Bachelor’s degree in Computer
Science or equivalent field, with 10 years of progressive software
development experience. Proficiency in Java, Python, or similar
languages. Demonstrated ability to implement improvement changes on
production systems while concurrently adding new features to meet
team initiatives. 6 years of expertise in core Computer Science
principles, including Object-Oriented programming, data structures,
and algorithms (hashing, trees, graphs, search, etc.). 6 years of
experience with both relational (SQL-based) and non-relational
databases (DynamoDB, Elasticache), as well as messaging
technologies (Kinesis, Kafka, SQS, SNS). Proven track record in
data modeling and streamlining data from multiple sources into a
normalized format to enhance user experiences. Experience with
high-performance service or stream computing at large scale.
Preferred Qualifications: Knowledge of media rights & window rules.
Experience with metadata enrichment techniques leveraging ML/AI
models (such as extraction of media embeddings, for example).
Department-Specific Boiler Plates: Product Engineering Product
Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of
Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and
platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering,
quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce,
lifecycle, and identity. The hiring range for this position in
California is $184,300 to $247,100 per year and in New York is
$193,100 to $258,900 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 the full range of medical, financial,
and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
Job Posting Segment: PE - Media Platform Job Posting Primary
Business: PE - Media Platform - Media & Metadata Acquisition and
Syndication Services Primary Job Posting Category: Software
Engineer Employment Type: Full time Primary City, State, Region,
Postal Code: Santa Monica, CA, USA Alternate City, State, Region,
Postal Code: USA - NY - 7 Hudson Square Date Posted: 2026-03-19
Keywords: The Walt Disney Company, Beverly Hills , Principal Software Engineer, IT / Software / Systems , Santa Monica, California
