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Lead Automation Engineer

Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 10121972 Location Seattle, Washington, United States / Glendale, California, United States / San Francisco, California, United States / New York, New York, United States Business Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology Date posted Oct. 04, 2025

Job Summary:

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally.

The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.

Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

· Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.

· Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally.

· Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

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. As Lead Automation Engineer, within DE&E, you will touch the lives of Disney fans around the world, working on innovative digital products and platforms from Disney, ESPN, National Geographic, ABC, Marvel, Star Wars and more. You will be a senior leader on the Quality Engineering team, whose primary goal is continually improving the quality of the products that Disney is known for while decreasing time-to-market and enabling innovation. This role makes you a stakeholder in every digital property developed and released by the DE&E Technology group, as well as the platforms and enterprise applications that power them. As an experienced automation engineering leader who has a passion for leading engineers that drive quality and productivity into world-class applications and services, you will lead a small group of talented and driven automation engineers dedicated to building test automation, tools, reports, and services that enable product delivery teams to deliver all Disney digital applications with the quality and reliability expected by our guests.

Responsibilities:

• Leading and Mentoring junior developers and providing in-depth code reviews and technical analysis; Collaboration with immediate teams and peers to design complex solutions, peer review code, and suggest optimization

• Developing and supporting test automation, execution environments and reporting tools

• Writing code that establishes and enhances test automation and design proof of concepts.

• Coordination of complex tasks with external teams & stakeholders

• Leading a small group of 1-3 motivated software engineers.

• Providing end-user and developer training on automation tool sets.

• Contributing and defining Key Performance Indicators to be used for defining project statuses and effectiveness

• Providing strategic input on future initiatives with stakeholders and other engineers

• Investigating and resolving any test automation, tooling or execution of environmental issues affecting our services

Basic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree or the foreign equivalent in Computer Science or a closely related field with 7+ years of progressive experience in a software development (SDET) occupation, including automated testing of front end and backend services

• Proficient in object-oriented design and expertise with one of the following programming languages: Python, Java, Node/JavaScript

• 4+ years of experience with test automation and unit testing frameworks

• 3+ year of experience with leading teams of 2 or more

• Experience working with high-performing teams using Agile and Lean methodologies and frameworks

• Experience in deriving and gathering quality KPI’s to give insight into product’s health and progress

• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills

• Strong verbal and written communication skills. Highly motivated, self-starting individual

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience shipping a production Python, Flask, Django, React or Node.js application

• Experience in mobile and/or living room application development and testing

• Experience with developing applications in cloud platforms (e.g. AWS)

• Experience with test suite/case/run management tools (e.g., JIRA Xray, etc.)

#DISNEYTECH


The hiring range for this position in Seattle, WA is $159,500 - $213,900 per year, New York is $159,500 - $213,900 per year, Glendale, CA is $152,200 - $204,100 per year and San Francisco is $166,800 - $223,600 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

About Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology:

At Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology, we’re blending imagination and innovation to reimagine the ways people experience and engage with the world’s most beloved stories and products. Our work is wide-ranging and deeply sophisticated. We create amazing experiences, transform the future of media, and build products and platforms that enable the connection between people everywhere and the stories and sports they love.

Disney’s ability to marry world-class technology with one-of-a-kind creativity makes us unique. It is at the heart of our past, present, and future. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers.

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 Disney Streaming Technology LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.

Disney Streaming Technology 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.

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