Lead Software Engineer - Frontend

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. 

A few reasons why we think you’d love working for Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology:

• Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s 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 ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.

• Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

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

Job Summary:

We are looking for a talented front-end engineer to join a team that creates large-scale, highly performant web applications. This team transforms large, complex datasets into fast and responsive user interfaces used by millions of people. 

As a Lead Software Engineer for Web App Experience, you will help us push the boundaries of what is possible on the client. You'll work with a team of other developers alongside systems engineers, services engineers, and project managers. You’ll work in a fast-paced environment to help build critical features supporting content discovery, engagement, and personalization for our suite of streaming apps. You are highly proficient in Javascript, HTML and CSS and appreciate the details that make a user experience exceptional. You demonstrate enthusiasm for new technologies, languages, frameworks, and platforms. 

We believe we offer unique opportunities for any technologist, including: 

• The ability to work on a modern and continuously evolving technology stack

• Influencing the innovation of products used globally by millions 

• An open, team-driven environment that fosters constructive feedback and collective problem-solving

Responsibilities 

• Implement web interfaces and applications using JavaScript (ES6+) HTML and CSS 

• Work on a modern stack including React, TypeScript, NodeJS, Amazon Web Services

• Enforce code quality through test driven development and code review 

• Distill product requirements into design and technical specifications 

• Collaborate closely with other engineering teams, product managers, and UX designers to define product requirements 

• Build out new features and enhancements using React and Redux 

• Maintain and support a production streaming app at global scale 

• Mentor junior developers and promote engineering best practices 

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years building scalable production-quality web experiences 

• BS in Computer Science or related technical discipline and 7+ years relevant industry experience or 13+ years equivalent engineering experience without a BS degree in a technical field or 19+ years equivalent experience without a BS degree.

• Experience in a NodeJS application development environment.

• Experience working within a modern Javascript workflow through technologies such as: CSS Preprocessors, Styled Components, Single Page Application frameworks and Module Bundlers (Webpack etc.) 

• Strong understanding of application security principles and best practices

• Proven ability to integrate with service APIs and/or SDKs

• Experience with observability platforms such as DataDog or New Relic to monitor application health and performance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with streaming video, large data applications, and analytics suites

• Knowledge of SEO, accessibility, and web performance metrics 

• Experience integrating with REST and GraphQL APIs 

• Hands on experience with React in a production application 

• Ability to lead high-functioning engineering teams 

The hiring range for this position in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, CA is $152,200 to 204,100 per year, in Seattle, WA and New York, NY is $159,500 to $213,900 per year, and in San Francisco, CA is $166,800 to $223,600 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.