Product Software Engineer II

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:

• 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.
• 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. 
• Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

Content Platforms & Operations is responsible for the development and ongoing advancement of the technical and operational functions driving the worldwide distribution and monetization of Disney’s linear networks and theatrical content. This includes Disney’s media supply chain and storage, network and theatrical distribution operations, media localization, network transmission and origination, and more. The global team also plays a critical role as the primary collaboration point for Product & Technology with Disney’s EMEA, APAC, and LATAM regional business teams.

Job Summary:

The production software Engineering Product Development team is seeking a software engineer capable of building the services that power a wide array of ESPN media management applications and broadcast integrations necessary to facilitate media workflows including ingest, streaming, transport, tracking, and distribution. A desirable candidate will have sufficient java engineering experience and familiarity working with complex service architectures. This role will require working with various other software and infrastructure teams as well as front-end application engineers to integrate, enhance and facilitate internal media workflows as well as those supporting linear and non-linear digital distributions. In addition to systems engineering responsibilities, this role will have periodic, rotational support on-call responsibilities and will need to troubleshoot critical and time-sensitive production issues, identify and take proper steps to escalate tickets when necessary, and implement pro-active monitoring/alerting solutions to minimize impact of future instances.

The ideal candidate has experience in Java, Java Spring Boot, C# and Kotlin, along with a proficiency with AI-assisted development tools to accelerate building high-quality, scalable asset management systems.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Develop and maintain scalable, high-performance applications across both backend and frontend systems supporting ESPN Media Management. 
• Ensure alignment with architectural standards, security, and best practices across the full stack. Drive code quality through reviews, and consistent development practices. 
• Collaborate with QA teams to support proper test cases, automate unit testing, and configure observability monitoring.
• Contribute to evolving engineering practices by adopting new technologies, tools, and frameworks across both backend and frontend ecosystems. 
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for services in production. 
• Monitor and address bugs, errors, and performance issues proactively. 
• Work with DevOps teams to ensure smooth CI/CD pipelines for deployments. 

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering (or equivalent experience).
• A minimum of 3 years of experience with software backend/middleware/microservice engineering.
• Strong proficiency in Java, Spring Boot, or other JVM languages.
• React/Javascript web development experience
• Familiarity with Agentic AI/LLMs (Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro) for assisted engineering.
• Experience working in agile development environments with cross-functional teams.
• Experience integrating software services with RESTful APIs.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and cloud-based deployment (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across teams.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving issues.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with messaging platforms such as Apache Kafka.
• Knowledge of streaming technologies, media players, or video processing.
• Experience working in a media, entertainment, or sports industry environment.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in Bristol, CT is $119,200.00 to $159,800.00 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.

This position is with Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.

To learn more about Disney's guidelines on the use of AI for candidates, click here.

Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION FOR EMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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