Lead Software Engineer

About the role

## About the Role

Disney Experiences (DXT) Technology & Digital creates digital experiences for Disney’s premier vacation brands, including Disney Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani: A Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club. The team supports end-to-end digital and physical Guest experiences across Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, Merchandise, My Disney Experience, Hey Disney!, and other technology initiatives.

The **Lead Software Engineer** will join the Connected Products team and own technical delivery across multiple systems. This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on real-time, event-driven platforms operating at scale. You will write production code, establish technical direction, make architecture decisions, lead delivery across teams, and own operational outcomes for critical platform components spanning edge systems, AWS cloud infrastructure, and real-time data processing.

## Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate real-time, event-driven systems that ingest and process data from edge devices.
• Develop backend services and streaming pipelines using **Java** and **Apache Flink**.
• Transform streaming data into reliable, consumable events, including Guest media and identity reconciliation.
• Architect and operate production systems on **AWS**, with emphasis on scalability, cost efficiency, observability, and fault tolerance.
• Lead end-to-end delivery for multiple systems while balancing business goals, technical constraints, and competing priorities.
• Lead technical decisions and system design for critical platform components.
• Build clean, versioned event schemas and APIs for downstream consumers and external systems.
• Own technical outcomes across a portfolio from roadmap through delivery.
• Align multiple teams and resolve organization-level technical blockers.
• Serve independently as a technical liaison and team representative.
• Mentor junior developers.
• Present technical information to executive audiences.
• Participate in estimation and planning for sophisticated, scalable projects.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and make informed technical recommendations.
• Drive improvements in architecture and operational standards.
• Own operational outcomes for critical platform components.
• Travel occasionally, estimated at **10–15%**.

## Required Qualifications

• **7+ years of professional software engineering experience**, including experience with distributed, production systems.
• **3+ years of repeated cross-team technical leadership**, including end-to-end ownership of multi-service initiatives and driving architecture decisions implemented at scale.
• Demonstrated technical leadership through **technical influence rather than direct people management**.
• Expertise building **real-time or streaming data pipelines**, including event ingestion, aggregation, windowing, and emission.
• Experience with streaming or event-ingestion technologies such as **AWS IoT Core, Kinesis, Kafka, and MQTT**.
• Expert-level proficiency in **Java**.
• Deep hands-on experience with **AWS**, including technologies such as ECS/EKS, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, CloudWatch, and Timestream/InfluxDB.
• Strong understanding of **event-driven architecture**, schema evolution, and downstream consumer integration.
• Proven ability to design and deliver systems that are **observable, resilient, and scalable**.
• Ability to stay current with emerging technologies and make informed technical recommendations.
• Bachelor's degree in **Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field**, or equivalent relevant experience.

## Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating **IoT, edge, or computer-vision-adjacent systems** into cloud platforms.
• Experience operating high-visibility systems with strict performance and reliability expectations.
• Experience with **stream processing frameworks** or high-throughput messaging systems.
• Experience building systems that handle sensitive or privacy-relevant data.
• Experience implementing strong security and access controls.

## Skills & Competencies

• Java
• Apache Flink
• AWS
• AWS IoT Core
• Amazon Kinesis
• Kafka
• MQTT
• ECS/EKS
• AWS Lambda
• DynamoDB
• S3
• CloudWatch
• Timestream/InfluxDB
• Real-time data processing
• Streaming data pipelines
• Event-driven architecture
• Distributed systems
• Backend software engineering
• API design
• Event schema design and evolution
• Downstream system integration
• System architecture
• Scalability
• Fault tolerance
• Observability
• Reliability engineering
• Cost efficiency
• Technical leadership
• Cross-team collaboration
• Technical influence
• Mentoring
• Executive communication
• Project estimation and planning
• Problem-solving
• Technical decision-making

## Education & Experience

**Education**

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, **or equivalent relevant experience**.

**Experience**

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience with distributed, production systems.
• 3+ years of repeated cross-team technical leadership and end-to-end ownership of multi-service initiatives.
• Experience designing and delivering real-time or streaming data pipelines.
• Deep hands-on AWS experience.
• Expert-level Java proficiency.

## Work Arrangement & Schedule

• **Job location:** Bay Lake, Florida, United States.
• **Work arrangement:** The source listing metadata identifies the position as **Remote**, but the job description explicitly states: **“This is not a remote role. You must be in the area or willing to relocate.”**
• **Primary location for work-arrangement purposes:** The explicit job-description statement indicates that candidates must be in the area or willing to relocate.
• **Travel:** Occasional travel may be required, estimated at **10–15%**.
• **Employment type:** Not specified in the source job description.
• **Weekly hours:** Not specified.
• **Schedule flexibility:** Not specified.
• **Weekend requirements:** Not specified.

## Compensation & Benefits

• **Hiring range:** **$148,300.00–$180,000.00 per year** for this position in Orlando.
• Actual base pay may vary based on internal equity, geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other factors.
• A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package.
• Medical, financial, and/or other benefits may be provided depending on the level and position offered.

## Compliance / Additional Information

• Disney Experiences supports digital and physical Guest experiences across Disney Parks & Resorts and related businesses.
• The role involves ownership of critical platform components and systems operating at scale.
• The position requires candidates to meet the stated professional experience, technical, education, and work-location requirements.
• **#DISNEYTECH**