Software Engineer II

Department/Group Overview:

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.

We are the Content Platforms team with a mission to “reimagine the technical ecosystem that empowers The Walt Disney Company to harness its unparalleled storytelling and distribute it around the world.” 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. 

If you: 

• Enjoy working with teams of talented and passionate people 
• Demonstrate determination in finding solutions to complex puzzles
• Have the curiosity and interests in how content goes from inception to consumers
• Employ positive thinking and are able to work constructively in a diverse team setting 
• Enjoy transforming business strategy into innovative products & platforms
• Value learning and being exposed to new experiences 
• Find Media & Entertainment industry fascinating

then Content Platforms team is the place for you. We are growing and investing in innovative technology to deliver a state-of-the-art content pipeline. Come be a part of the magic that makes The Walt Disney Company one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies”.  

Job Summary

The Software Engineer II will participate actively in ensuring that the highest standards of quality are being met for the various systems and applications within the Content Platforms & Operations portfolio.  As part of the Production Support Engineering team, the Software Engineer II will be working with both custom-built legacy and state-of-the-art applications to support the needs of a wide variety of customers across DEEP&T and The Walt Disney Studios.  These include the ordering, creation, safe-keeping, and transport/delivery of film, television, and music assets around the globe.

The Software Engineer II will be responsible for understanding the core functionalities of the systems in the portfolio, build tools to aid in the management and support of the systems, and serve as the escalation for high level production support tickets and requests.  As such, the Software Engineer II’s primary functions will be to develop support, monitoring, and deployment tools, help resolve high level support issues, address defects, and maximize up-time for the entire portfolio.  In addition to the rest of the Support Engineering Team, the engineer will engage with other disciplines of the extended project team, including product, information security, QA, software engineering, systems, network, and database teams.

The engineer will be expected to work on issues with sometimes incomplete information, communicate with various levels of users (sometimes executives), work with slow or non-responsive partners, navigate complex bureaucracy, and sometimes work with unfamiliar technology.  The successful candidate must be self-motivated, detail oriented, a great communicator, a solid team player, a creative problem solver, and always eager to learn new things.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Serve as initial contact for end users reporting issues or requesting assistance for supported systems and applications
• Triage, assign, prioritize and resolve user-reported incidents and requests using a ticketing system
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and customers and partners across the organization to resolve issues
• Develop, expand and administer system monitoring and production support tools
• Troubleshoot and resolve production support issues and defects
• Troubleshoot and resolve system outages and assist with root cause analysis
• Adhere to coding guidelines and best practices set forth by engineering, product, and information security teams
• Design, implement, and unit test backlog items for legacy applications
• Partner with various teams to identify ways to maximize system up-time and make system optimizations
• Write technical documentation

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of experience in a production support software engineering role
• Expert in supporting and debugging applications in JavaScript (NodeJS, React), Java, SQL and MongoDB, and knowledge of a scripting language (Perl, Python or Ruby)
• Strong understanding of information security principles
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills, organizational skills and attention to detail
• Basic understanding of networking principles, fast file-moving technologies/protocols (Aspera products), on-premise storage/mapping, and cloud-based storage solutions (AWS S3)
• Strong understanding of JavaScript, Java, .Net, SQL, MongoDB, APIs and messaging services
• Proactive work style with the ability to work autonomously
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to create documentation and communicate with a diverse global user community
• Effective collaborator and strong ability to work cooperatively with team members across multiple disciplines in a fast-paced environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with working on applications in Linux-, Windows- and Cloud-based platforms
• Solid understanding of various deployment tools and CI/CD principles (Jenkins)
• Expert domain knowledge of asset management and accelerated transport systems
• Able to comfortably multitask and context switch frequently
• Able to make important decisions when given incomplete and conflicting information
• Highly self-directed, being able to both manage and (re)prioritize the multiple, concurrent, and competing challenges, issues, ambiguities, and contradictions that sometimes occur during the creation of software solutions in a rapidly changing environment
• Good interpersonal and relationship building skills

Required Education  

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Technology or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

The hiring range for this remote position is $111,900 - $172,500 per year, which factors in various geographic regions. 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.