Sr Principal Software Engineer
The Walt Disney Company1 day ago
Base Salary
$240k - $321k/yr
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and own the architecture and core software components for Disney’s platform services layer.
- Build API gateway and edge services, service-to-service authentication and authorization, rate limiting, load shedding, circuit breaking, distributed tracing, telemetry, logging pipelines, identity sharing, and context propagation.
- Write, review, and ship shared libraries, services, SDKs, CLI tools, golden-path templates, reference implementations, and starter kits adopted by more than 400 teams.
- Define API and event schema standards, SLO frameworks, error budgets, compatibility contracts, upgrade paths, and platform RFCs.
- Review service designs and integrations, resolve cross-domain dependencies, and translate architecture into quarterly delivery roadmaps.
- Evaluate build-versus-buy decisions through prototyping, vendor evaluation, integration analysis, cost modeling, and maintainability assessment.
- Lead investigations into distributed-system performance bottlenecks, cascading failures, resiliency gaps, and production incidents.
- Implement platform-level resiliency patterns and partner with SRE and observability teams on telemetry, dashboards, alerting, and incident-driven improvements.
- Design AI-ready platform primitives supporting inference routing, traffic splitting, model telemetry, monitoring, experiment tracking, and feature flagging.
- Communicate platform strategy and technical trade-offs to Directors and VPs and mentor Principal and Senior Engineers through pairing, reviews, and architecture guidance.
Requirements
- 12+ years of software engineering experience, including at least five years in a Staff, Principal, or higher-level individual contributor role owning large-scale systems.
- Direct experience designing, building, and operating platform or infrastructure services in an organization with 1,000+ engineers.
- Deep expertise in distributed systems and platforms, including API gateways, service mesh, distributed tracing, observability platforms, rate limiting, circuit breaking, and load shedding.
- Proven success delivering platform services as software that achieve broad internal adoption.
- Hands-on experience with service-to-service authentication, zero-trust networking, and identity federation at scale.
- Ability to communicate technical architecture and platform strategy to Directors and VPs using measurable velocity, cost, and reliability outcomes.
- Experience leading build-versus-buy decisions for platform capabilities, including prototyping, vendor evaluation, and long-term ownership analysis.
- Related bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Preferred experience at a hyperscaler or large consumer technology company such as Google, Meta, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, or equivalent.
- Preferred experience building infrastructure for AI or ML systems, such as inference routing, feature stores, model telemetry, or experiment tracking.
- Preferred streaming media infrastructure experience, including CDN integration, live event architecture, or high-concurrency content delivery.
- Preferred experience defining SLO frameworks, error budgets, and production-readiness standards across large engineering organizations.
Benefits
- Full-time position based in Seattle, Washington.
- Full range of medical, financial, and other benefits may be provided depending on level and position.
- Bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided in addition to base compensation.
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is a diversified entertainment business that produces films and television, operates theme parks and resorts, and runs streaming services including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. It earns revenue from subscriptions and advertising, theatrical distribution, licensing and merchandise, and park admissions and experiences. Founded in 1923 and headquartered in Burbank, California, Disney owns brands such as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios and serves audiences worldwide.