Lead Software Engineer (C/C++ or Rust)

Job ID 10098366 Location Seattle, Washington, United States / Bristol, Connecticut, United States / Santa Monica, California, United States / San Francisco, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Morrisville, North Carolina, United States Business Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology Date posted Nov. 15, 2024

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Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming our media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to enhance flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

A few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

Building the future of Disney’s media: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

Media Engineering is an innovative organization that is focused on providing the best possible video playback experience, art, and metadata to customers around the world, powered by exceptional technology. This strategic work requires streamlining and repurposing technology across different business and distribution channels – including streaming, linear, and theatrical – so that technology can ebb and flow across the needs of the business.

Job Summary

Our combined Disney and Hulu team is looking for hardworking team players to join the Media Engineering team, who will thrive upon the legacy of Disney and Hulu, embrace unconventional thinking, and who are passionate about contributing to The Walt Disney Company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) experience through strategic hard work and determination.

Our team is seeking a Lead Software Engineer, Video Analytics to help us deliver excellent streaming experiences for Hulu and Disney+ as a developer of our client player. Our team is responsible for playback across several devices including gaming consoles and set top boxes. You will have the opportunity to lead in the design and implementation of our cross-platform C/C++ and Rust player that runs Disney+ and Hulu on these devices.

We’re looking for an experienced C/C++ or Rust engineer who has video player and cross platform development experience. You should have a passion for coding and debugging hard problems, and an eagerness to help us deliver seamless video to our subscribers. As a lead engineer, you will get to own large features, lead the technical direction of our work, and mentor and provide technical expertise to other engineers. You will work closely with other technical teams in the application layer and backend video services to deliver features.

Job Responsibilities

Develop and maintain our Rust and C/C++ player that drives our streaming experience
Optimize our player to perform well for resource constrained platforms
Create and review architecture and designs for our team’s projects
Maintain a strong understanding of our code to identify, research and address issues, collaborate with application development teams, services engineering teams and product management to help understand and explain device limitations and requirements
Lead in strategies to ensure the quality and stability of our deployments, including testing strategies and telemetry approaches
Develop our project’s build system and continuous integration system as needed
Provide technical expertise or mentoring to developers on our team, hold our team accountable to high development standards

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent experience
Minimum of 7 years of related work experience
Long record of full software development lifecycle experience
Fluent in C and C++ or Rust
Willing to learn Rust
Experience developing and optimizing multi-threaded applications
Experience using build runners / compilation tools for multi-platform projects
Strong individual contributor with a drive to learn and patience to teach others
Great communication and collaboration skills and a strong teamwork ethic

Preferred Qualifications

Rust
Experience in Streaming technologies, including:
- HLS (preferred) or DASH
- DRM technologies like Playready or Widevine
- Adaptive Bitrate Streaming Algorithms
- Caption and subtitle formats such as CEA-608 / 708
- Codecs AVC, HEVC, AAC, EAC3
Video analytics experience, for example Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, Comscore, Conviva
Cross-Platform Development
Embedded operating system experience
Experience developing for gaming consoles (e.g. Playstation, Switch), Android devices (e.g.FireTV), or similar devices
Familiarity with set-top box development and specialized SoCs from manufacturers like Broadcom, MediaTek, etc.

#disneytech

The hiring range for this position in Seattle, Washington and New York City is $163,500 - $219,200 per year and in Bristol, Connecticut, Santa Monica, California and Glendale, California is $149,300 - $200,200 per year and in Morrisville, North Carolina is $142,200 - $190,600 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.

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About Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology (DE&E Technology) provides the technological backbone and product development for Disney’s two media business units, while helping to keep the company at the vanguard of innovation – enabling the Company to continuously leverage technology to enhance storytelling and creativity, while delivering scalability, flexibility, and efficiency for its businesses.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Hulu, LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology.

Hulu, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION FOR EMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, email Candidate.Accommodations@Disney.com with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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With a thriving food-and-drink scene, eclectic neighborhoods and a stunning coastal setting, Seattle is a dynamic urban enclave nestled in the Pacific Northwest. The city is bounded by Lake Washington in the east and Puget Sound to the west, an ideal location for water recreation and sight-seeing cruises.