Application Engineering Manager

The Walt Disney Company•Lake Buena Vista, FL

About The Position

The Disney Decision Science and Integration (DDSI) team leverages advanced technologies, Gen AI, data analytics, and scientific approaches such as optimization, and statistical modeling to build innovative tools that shape business decisions across The Walt Disney Company. We support Disney Entertainment (ABC, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney+, Hulu), ESPN, Disney Experiences (Theme Parks, Cruise Line, Consumer Products, DVC), and Corporate Finance with strategic applications that enable data-driven decision-making. A Lead Application Engineer on the DDSI team will lead the technical aspects of software development projects by using their experience to design and deliver applications that are user-friendly, performant, integrated, measurable and extensible. Lead Application Engineers invent creative software solutions, lead problem-solving sessions, prioritize team tasks according to business needs, and enjoy being a technical leader in a collaborative environment. In this role, as Lead Application Engineer, you will guide other Application Engineers and Sr. Application Engineers in the implementation of web-based analytic applications for internal DDSI customers such as Disney Entertainment and Disney Parks, Experiences, & Products. This role requires team leadership experience, a strong computing background, an AI-first mindset, excellent analytical and quantitative skills, and a passion for delivering quality solutions that satisfy business needs.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of professional software development experience
Minimum 5 years of hands‑on Python development
Experience with Django and modern front‑end frameworks such as ReactJS
AI‑First Development & Productivity
Hands‑on experience applying generative AI tools to improve development workflows, testing practices, and documentation
Ability to identify and implement AI‑driven opportunities that enhance engineering efficiency and solution quality
Full‑Stack Architecture & Cloud Engineering
Proven experience architecting and building elegant, scalable full‑stack web ecosystems
Expertise across front‑end, back‑end, APIs, data persistence, caching, monitoring, scalability, and security
Strong understanding of cloud‑native design patterns and best practices
Complex Problem Solving with Large Datasets
Experience designing applications that solve complex data problems with intuitive, user‑friendly solutions
Proven ability to process and manage large, complex datasets
Experience with databases and data warehouses such as PostgreSQL and Snowflake
Technical Leadership
Demonstrated ability to lead technical projects end‑to‑end, from design through delivery
Experience estimating effort, managing priorities, meeting deadlines, and adapting to changing requirements
Ability to anticipate risks and resolve technical issues collaboratively within the team
Collaboration & Communication
Ability to communicate, collaborate and compromise with cross-functional business teams
Strong ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to business and technical stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Analytics-driven application development
Experience developing software systems that leverage analytics to drive insights and decision‑making
AI systems & patterns
Experience designing and building AI‑based systems, including agentic workflows and retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) patterns
Cloud & full-stack engineering
Expertise in ReactJS, Python, and Django
Proficient in AWS web application architecture
Product design & delivery
Experience with UX/UI design
Experience developing user scenarios, business requirements, mockups, and technical specifications
Data platform & orchestration
Experience with analytic and orchestration tools like Databricks, Airflow, or similar
Experience working with unstructured data
Developer tooling & standards
Experience evaluating, choosing, and rolling out software tools and component libraries
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study and/or equivalent work experience

Responsibilities

Lead the technical application engineering efforts for designing, building, and delivering custom software supporting strategic business initiatives
Champion the adoption of GenAI tools to improve efficiency and productivity
Collaborate cross functionally with: Product teams to define application requirements, priorities, estimates, and delivery plans
Data Science team to incorporate science models into user-friendly applications
Technology teams to deliver scalable, efficient, and automated cloud infrastructure services
Data Engineering teams to integrate high volume data into analytic solutions

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