Sr. Software Engineering Manager

We are looking for a software engineer to help us grow the data platform. You will be embedded in the Compute team that runs the Data Lake platform that helps power the analytics, operations, and data science behind our flagship streaming applications - Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star+. You'll get to understand the challenges of how data is being used at Disney's world-class streaming services while pushing the boundaries of what is possible using the latest technologies available in AWS, Databricks, and beyond.

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership and strategic direction for the architecture, development, and continuous improvement of cloud-based big data infrastructure.
• Evaluate, adopt, and integrate emerging technologies and architectural paradigms (e. g., serverless, data mesh, lakehouse) to stay ahead of industry trends and business needs.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders, architects, and product managers to align technical solutions with business priorities and long-term platform vision.
• Define and lead the adoption of engineering processes, governance models, and operational best practices, fostering a culture of innovation and technical rigour.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, internal senior engineers, and external stakeholders to align technical solutions with business objectives, from requirements gathering to production delivery.
• Own and drive the execution of complex infrastructure initiatives, ensuring timely delivery with measurable impact.

Requirements:

• Proven experience managing teams that build and operate large-scale big data platforms using technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Airflow, or similar frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks, Snowflake, Airflow, Kafka, and the latest data formats (Delta Lake, Iceberg, etc. ) for large-scale data processing, data warehousing, orchestrating complex data workflows, or analytical workloads.
• Practical experience leading or managing the CI/CD functions and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc. )
• Strong expertise in cloud-native architectures (AWS), including compute, storage, and networking services.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, with a track record of influencing technical direction across teams.
• Experience leading data platform modernisation initiatives, such as migration to cloud-native or serverless architectures.
• Extensive experience in designing and managing complex big data platform infrastructures involving multi-region, high-availability, and disaster recovery considerations.
• Familiarity with data governance, security, and compliance frameworks (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc. )
• Strong leadership presence with experience in mentoring senior engineers, leading architecture reviews, and strategy alignment.
• Ability to evaluate emerging technologies and drive their adoption in alignment with business and platform needs.
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience and a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or 8+ years of relevant professional experience and a master's degree in computer science or a related field.