Senior, Software Engineer (Machine Learning)

BUILD SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF 

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with the following business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, Disney Parks, and Experiences and Products. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

How will you contribute to our magical experience?  

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior, Software Engineer (Machine Learning) to join our Content Platforms Engineering team, focusing on building and enhancing platform capabilities with a strong emphasis on computer vision and machine learning (ML) workflows. Our team develops and manages a diverse suite of products and services that power Disney’s media supply chain, enabling content delivery for iconic brands like Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, ABC, Marvel, and Star Wars.

Our team of software engineers is dedicated to exploring the art of the possible using the latest advancements in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. We are seeking a creative and driven Senior Software Engineer with an AI/ML focus to join us in rapidly building and iterating on solutions that tackle high-impact business problems in the media supply chain space. This is a hands-on role for a builder and systems thinker who can take ideas from a concept to a functional prototype with speed and ingenuity.

The Senior, Software Engineer (Machine Learning) will be responsible for: 

• Collaborate with product and technology teams across the globe
• Primarily focus on backend engineering systems that leverage an AI/ML component.
• Conceptualize and develop innovative solutions to address complex business challenges, contributing to a culture of rapid innovation.
• Design and build AI-powered solutions, ranging from quick-turnaround prototypes to systems that are on a clear path to production.
• Apply and refine best practices to optimize the performance of Large Language Models (LLMs) for both experimental and long-term use cases.
• Create and maintain clear and comprehensive documentation of technical decisions, trade-offs, and key learnings throughout the entire solution lifecycle.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, data scientists, and other engineers, to ensure that prototypes and solutions are aligned with business needs and can be scaled effectively.
• Stay at the forefront of the latest developments in AI and machine learning, continuously identifying new techniques and technologies to experiment with and apply to our work.
• Mentor junior team members to develop their technical capabilities.

What we need from you to be part of this story:

• BA/BS in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 4+ years of experience in the field of software engineering with a recent strong focus on AI/ML projects.
• Advanced level in English
• Demonstratable experience in programming languages, preferably Python
• Hands-on experience with at least one major deep learning framework such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, or fine-tuning LLMs.
• Experience with the full lifecycle of a machine learning project, from data processing, model selection, training, and development to deployment and monitoring.
• Experience integrating machine learning models into production systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms storage, compute, and ML services, such as AWS S3, EC2/Fargate, Lambda and model execution on Bedrock.
• Experience in Agile/Scrum methodology
• Team player with strong oral and written communications skills
• Understanding of software design principles, algorithms, and data structures
• Familiar with build and deployment technologies such as Gitlab-CI and Terraform/Cloud formation.
• Familiar with containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Expertise with full lifecycle of application development, including best practices of unit testing, code reviews, documentation, etc.
• Experience with coding agents such as Kiro and Claude and knowing when not to use them

​Additional Information: 

At Disney, we believe it takes great people to create memorable experiences, products and services our consumers know and love. We are a team of storytellers and hire under equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability and gender identity. We foster a corporate culture of belonging and inclusiveness, which empowers our staff and company to thrive. At Disney, everyone has the opportunity to speak up and participate, grow and share ideas.

“You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” Walt Disney