The Walt Disney Company

Software Engineer II, AI Insights

The Walt Disney Company$123K — $165K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 3+ years in backend development, particularly with AI-powered or data-driven applications
  • Experience building scalable APIs using frameworks like FastAPI or Flask
  • Familiarity with AWS services and cloud architecture
  • Hands-on experience in AI/ML engineering with knowledge of agentic workflows or traditional ML
  • Proficient with AI-assisted development tools to enhance efficiency
  • Strong understanding of microservices architecture and API design
  • Excellent collaboration and communication skills across teams

Responsibilities

  • Design and operate intelligent systems that enhance the health of streaming platforms
  • Build AI-driven capabilities utilizing foundation models for real-time decision-making
  • Develop data pipelines for actionable insights and root cause analysis
  • Create scalable APIs to deliver predictive signals to stakeholders
  • Contribute to compliance systems that ensure resource data integrity
  • Collaborate with teams to integrate intelligence into operational workflows
  • Drive innovation in observability and developer productivity through AI

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, financial, and other benefits provided
  • Opportunities for performance bonuses and long-term incentives
  • Possibility for cross-functional collaboration experience
  • Engagement with cutting-edge AI technologies
  • Work in a fast-paced, distributed environment with a focus on innovation
Full Job Description

Job Posting Title:

Software Engineer II, AI Insights

Req ID:

Job Description:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity.

The Observability & Insights group ensures that Disney Streaming’s distributed systems are reliable, performant, and transparent. We build the telemetry, dashboards, alerting, insights pipelines, and developer experience tooling that enable engineers across the organization to understand system health and take action quickly.

Job Summary

As a Software Engineer II, you will design and build intelligent, AI driven systems that enhance the reliability and compliance posture of Disney's large-scale streaming infrastructure. You will develop agentic systems, machine learning models, and real-time automation that transform telemetry, logs, and infrastructure signals into automated detection, root cause analysis, and proactive policy enforcement and insights. 

In this role, you will contribute to the development of autonomous agents capable of reasoning over complex system behavior, identifying issues in real time, and driving faster detection and resolution across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. You will also contribute to systems that provide infrastructure visibility across a variety of Disney products, enforce compliance through preventative guardrails, correlate services to incidents for faster resolution, and quantify the impact of AI-driven observability tools on operational outcomes. You will partner closely with engineering, product, and platform teams to embed intelligence directly into operational workflows, improving system resilience and compliance posture at scale. 

As a Software Engineer II, you will deliver high quality features end-to-end, contribute to system design and architecture reviews, and begin owning components of production systems within a fast-paced, AI-native SRE engineering environment.

Responsibilities

  • Design and operate intelligent, production-grade systems that leverage real-time signals and AI-driven detection to improve the health of streaming platforms, critical services, and customer experience
  • Build and scale AI-driven capabilities including agentic AI systems powered by modern foundation models (e.g. Claude Opus/Sonnet, GPT-4) enabling automated reasoning and decisioning, as well as predictive modeling and anomaly detection for real-time system health and reliability
  • Develop end-to-end data and decisioning pipelines that transform telemetry, logs, and user signals into actionable insights, automated detection, and root cause analysis
  • Create and deploy scalable APIs and services that deliver predictive signals, explainability, and insights to engineering teams, operational tools, and product stakeholders
  • Contribute to infrastructure visibility and compliance enforcement systems that aggregate resource data across Disney products, enable ownership-scoped querying, and prevent non-compliant deployments
  • Partner cross-functionally to embed intelligence into workflows (incident response, release validation, customer insights), improving speed and reducing operational overhead
  • Drive innovation in observability, reliability, and developer productivity through applied AI and new approaches

Basic Qualifications

  • 3+ years of applicable experience in backend development, including building AI-powered or data driven applications and scalable APIs (e.g. FastAPI, Flask)
  • Knowledge of AWS services and cloud architecture to inform what infrastructure characteristics should be measured and evaluated for reliability and compliance
  • Practical experience in AI/ML engineering, with knowledge in at least one of the following areas:
    • Agentic Workflows: Orchestrating foundation models (GPT-4, Claude) using frameworks like LangChain or LangGraph.
    • Traditional ML: Developing, training, or fine-tuning models using frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow.
  • Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) to accelerate engineering velocity.
  • Experience with modern development practices, including version control (GitHub), containerization (Docker), and cloud-native deployments (AWS/EKS).
  • Strong understanding of API design, microservices architecture, and standard SDLC workflows.
  • Strong analytical and technical skills to troubleshoot issues, perform rapid iteration and quickly come-up with the possible solutions,
  • Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally and clearly explain complex technical concepts

Preferred Qualifications 

  • Experience with observability platforms (e.g., Datadog, Grafana, Conviva) and handling high-volume telemetry data.
  • Familiarity with large-scale data platforms and distributed data processing tools (e.g., PySpark, Pandas, Databricks, Snowflake).
  • Knowledge of prompt design, model evaluation, and fine-tuning foundation models (GPT-4, Claude).
  • Experience implementing production-grade systems at scale within a fast-paced, distributed environment.

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience

#TECHATDISNEY

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $123,000 to $165,000 per year. 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.

Job Posting Segment:

PE - Sports, News & Entertainment, Tech Enablement

Job Posting Primary Business:

PE - Sports, News & Entertainment, Enablement - News & Entertainment Engineering

Primary Job Posting Category:

Software Engineer

Employment Type:

Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code:

New York, NY, USA

Alternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Date Posted:

2026-09-18

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company started as a cartoon studio and evolves into sports coverage and television shows. Using the company's portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services, and consumer products, Walt Disney seeks to develop creative, innovative, and profitable entertainment experiences and related products.

The Walt Disney Company Careers

Join the magical world of The Walt Disney Company, a place where dreams come true and imagination meets innovation. As a global leader in entertainment and media, we offer unparalleled job opportunities that invite you to be part of a beloved brand known for its influential culture, diversity, and dynamic growth. Work You’ll Do Embark on a career journey with The Walt Disney Company and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of media and entertainment. Engage in work that matters, contributes to storytelling excellence, and brings joy to millions around the globe. Transform your professional life by joining a team that values creativity, leadership, and visionary thinking. The Walt Disney Company stands at the forefront of industry innovation, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in entertainment and beyond. Lead with us from a unique position in the marketplace, where your skills in technology, creativity, and management converge to create extraordinary experiences. Collaborate with a diverse group of talented professionals, united in their passion for delivering magical experiences. Our team at The Walt Disney Company is composed of over 200,000 dedicated individuals who thrive in an environment that fosters growth, mentorship, and innovation. Introducing The Walt Disney Company Leadership and Professional Growth Programs We are committed to developing leaders who can navigate the challenges of the digital era and drive success across our various business segments. Our leadership programs are designed to hone your skills and prepare you for executive roles within the company. Do Innovative Work Join our team and contribute to projects that redefine the entertainment landscape. From groundbreaking films and television series to pioneering technological advancements, your work at The Walt Disney Company will set new standards in the creative and business worlds. Be Part of a Great Team Experience a culture that is inclusive, collaborative, and forward-thinking. Work alongside the best in the business and see how diversity and inclusion fuel our creativity and success. The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to a diverse workforce is evident in our hiring practices, training programs, and our everyday operations. Future-Proof Your Career With a wide array of benefits, continuous learning opportunities, and a network of supportive colleagues, your career at The Walt Disney Company is equipped for longevity and success. Our benefits package includes comprehensive health care, employee discounts, and access to exclusive company events and previews. Explore Job Opportunities and Internships Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking for your next challenge or a student seeking a transformative internship, The Walt Disney Company offers positions across a spectrum of fields and disciplines. Explore our career portal to find job opportunities that match your skills and passions. Stay Connected Join Our Team Search open positions, apply through our streamlined application process, and take the first step towards a magical career. We look for individuals who are passionate, curious, and eager to contribute to our legacy of storytelling and innovation. Keep Up to Date Stay informed with the latest company news, career tips, and insider perspectives—all from the people who make The Walt Disney Company a place of inspiration and excitement. Job Alert Emails Customize your subscription to receive job alerts and updates that align with your career interests. Discover the exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at The Walt Disney Company. Join us, and be part of the magic that only happens here at The Walt Disney Company!
Learn more about The Walt Disney Company
Size
190,000 employees
Market Cap
$155.1 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$4.9 billion
Founded
1923
5 Year Trend
+3.9%
Revenue
$60.7 billion
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at The Walt Disney Company

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Software Engineer II, AI Insights jobs: