Lead Software Engineer

The Lead Software Engineer for Disney Experiences Technology is a subject matter expert and hands-on technical leader who designs, builds, and evolves high-scale software that powers magical, immersive Guest experiences across parks, resorts, cruise, vacation, travel, retail, and consumer touchpoints worldwide. In this role, you guide engineering efforts across the stack, mentor other developers, and ensure solutions are robust, performant, and aligned with Disney’s creative, customer-focused, and innovative culture. 

Responsibilities: 

As a Lead Software Engineer, you act as a skilled, experienced subject matter expert and lead, organizing development efforts across UI, services, and integrations to deliver intuitive, high-volume Guest and internal experiences for Disney Experiences brands. You solve complex problems, identify innovative solutions, and serve as a mentor and problem-solver who can explain difficult concepts, influence technical direction, and collaborate as a team player across technology and business partners. This role matters because it connects engineering excellence with Disney’s Guest-centric vision, requiring strong technical depth, communication, collaboration, and accountability to succeed. 

• Serve as a subject matter expert and technical lead across the software stack, guiding architecture, design, and implementation for complex, large-scale systems and applications. 

• Organize and lead development efforts, including analysis, programming, debugging, and modification of software improvements and new products used across Guest-facing and internal platforms. 

• Mentor, train, and guide individual contributors by providing continuous coaching, feedback, and technical oversight, helping them connect their work to team goals and business outcomes. 

• Break down organizational and product goals into clear strategies, expectations, and priorities, empowering team members to contribute their unique talents toward well-defined results. 

• Lead end-to-end troubleshooting, problem analysis, and incident resolution for high-volume, 24/7 applications, ensuring reliability, performance, and a seamless Guest experience. 

• Participate in and often lead agile rituals—such as scrums, sprint planning, capacity tracking, and demos—to align deliverables, manage dependencies, and drive continuous value delivery. 

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners and other technology teams to define system requirements, estimate and plan scalable projects, and negotiate solutions that balance technical and business needs. 

• Own the design and development of backend services, APIs, and integrations, including security, data flow, and performance considerations for cloud-hosted, distributed systems. 

• Stay current with emerging technologies and tools, making informed recommendations that foster creativity, innovation, and continuous improvement within the team. 

• Create an environment where Disney values are experienced daily by encouraging collaboration, creative problem solving, accountability, and ensuring every voice is heard. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Strong subject matter expertise in software engineering, with the ability to lead complex projects and act as a primary technical point of contact for teams and stakeholders. 

• Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Java, Kotlin, Swift, JavaScript, Python, or similar, including experience with front-end and service development for high-volume applications. 

• Experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs, microservices, and distributed systems, including security frameworks like OAuth and JWT and integration with cloud hosting environments. 

• Familiarity with persistent storage technologies such as relational databases, document databases, caches, and database programming (e.g., SQL, PL/SQL, schema design). 

• Comfort working in an agile environment, managing team rituals, coordinating releases, and delivering continuous value across large or sophisticated systems. 

• Strong problem-solving, analysis, and communication skills, with the ability to explain difficult concepts, negotiate different points of view, and influence technical direction. 

• Demonstrated ability to mentor and coach engineers, hold self and others accountable to commitments, and collaborate effectively as a team-oriented, customer-focused leader. 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or a comparable field of study, or equivalent work experience. 

• Minimum 7 years of industry experience in software development or related work on large, scalable systems and high-scale environments. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience operating at scale in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, GCP), including observability, performance monitoring, and reliability for 24/7 web applications. 

• Background with server-side rendering web frameworks (such as Astro or Angular SSR) to ensure performant, accessible, and SEO-optimized experiences for Disney Parks websites. 

• Exposure to AI-related tools or intelligent service integration, and a desire to further develop technical expertise in modern engineering tools and methodologies. 

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, and/or relevant professional certifications in software engineering or cloud technologies.