Senior Principal Software Engineer

The Walt Disney Company

. Design, implement, and own the technical architecture and core software components for Disney’s platform services layer .

Posted 9/22/2026full-timeUnited StatesSenior💰 $239,700 - $321,400 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive expertise in designing and implementing large-scale platform services, with a strong focus on distributed systems, API gateways, and observability. Proven ability to lead technical direction and mentor engineering teams while effectively communicating strategies to senior leadership.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Distributed Systems ExpertiseAPI Gateway DesignService-to-Service AuthenticationPlatform Strategy CommunicationTechnical Leadership

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Software EngineeringPlatform Services DevelopmentDistributed TracingRate LimitingCircuit BreakingLoad SheddingIdentity FederationSLO FrameworksError BudgetsPrototyping

Soft Skills

MentoringCommunicationCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

Observability PlatformsService MeshTelemetryDashboardsIncident Management

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree or Higher

Industry Keywords

Large-Scale SystemsZero-Trust NetworkingAI/ML InfrastructureStreaming Media InfrastructureConsumer Technology

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed Systems

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, implement, and own the technical 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, identity sharing, observability, and experimentation platforms
Write, review, and ship production-grade shared libraries, services, SDKs, CLI tools, and golden-path templates adopted by 400+ teams
Produce reference implementations, starter kits, architecture decision records, technical design documents, and platform RFCs
Define API and event schema standards, SLO frameworks, error budgets, upgrade-path contracts, and golden-path tooling
Review and approve service designs and platform integrations
Translate architecture into quarterly roadmaps with milestones and ownership
Evaluate build-versus-buy decisions through prototyping, integration spikes, and cost modeling
Lead technical investigations into distributed-systems production issues and implement resiliency patterns
Partner with SRE and observability teams on telemetry, dashboards, alerting, and incident-driven improvements
Design AI-ready infrastructure supporting inference routing, model telemetry, experiment tracking, and feature flagging
Collaborate with AI/ML teams on reusable platform components and patterns
Drive technical direction across organizations and influence Directors and VPs
Mentor Principal and Senior Engineers through pairing, code reviews, design critiques, and architecture reviews
Communicate platform strategy, roadmap progress, and technical trade-offs to engineering leadership

Requirements

What you’ll need

12+ years of software engineering experience
At least 5 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 of 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 track record of delivering broadly adopted platform services as software
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
Experience leading build-versus-buy decisions, including prototyping, vendor evaluation, and long-term ownership considerations
Related Bachelor’s Degree or Higher
Preferred: experience at a hyperscaler or large consumer technology company, AI/ML infrastructure, streaming media infrastructure, and defining SLO frameworks, error budgets, and production readiness standards

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, financial, and/or other benefits
Bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package
Primarily on-site / occasionally from home work arrangement