Lead Android Engineer
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 Disney’s 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 maximize 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 for Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology
- Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s 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 execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.
Disney's Android team is seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer who is excited to build apps enjoyed by millions around the world. You will be building scalable, elegant solutions for the Android applications on Disney+ and Star+ across a wide array of devices including phones, tablets, and TVs.
Our highly collaborative group works in tandem with many cross-functional teams. We value pristine communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as a bias for action. We are incredibly invested in maintaining high code quality standards with unit tests, automated tests, modern libraries, and a Kotlin codebase. We strive to build the best Live and video-on-demand (VOD) applications in the world, and we look forward to hearing more about your skills and how they can help us achieve this lofty goal.
As a Lead Android Engineer at Disney, you are ready and willing to be responsible for a wide array of technical aspects. You assist with critical components including our release process, remote configuration management, and live production issues. You have and will lead entire projects from start to finish. While familiar with the high-level aspects of our project as a whole, you are also focused on and monitoring the health of the team. You not only seek out leadership opportunities to improve processes, but you do it with finesse and a positive attitude. You are comfortable facilitating career growth amongst team members and are invested in the long-term success of the company.
What You Will Do
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the design, development, and deployment of robust and scalable Android applications across various platforms including phones, tablets, and TVs.
- Own project delivery end-to-end, including architecture, implementation, testing, release, and post-release monitoring.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives in code quality, testing strategy, and system design.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to shape product vision and ensure alignment across the development lifecycle.
- Provide technical mentorship and coaching to engineers within the Android team, fostering a culture of collaboration, learning, and excellence.
- Monitor and troubleshoot production issues, working proactively to ensure high availability and performance of applications.
- Contribute to the planning and execution of release processes, remote configuration strategies, and live feature rollouts.
- Maintain deep awareness of system health, application performance, and customer impact through monitoring and diagnostics tools.
- Actively participate in design and code reviews, offering constructive feedback and upholding best practices.
Other General Activities
- Represent the Android team in department-wide technical forums, retrospectives, and strategic planning sessions.
- Identify and drive opportunities for refactoring, performance improvements, and feature modularization.
- Contribute to shaping team goals, roadmaps, and technical strategy in alignment with broader business objectives.
- Stay informed about latest trends in Android development and apply modern practices to improve user experience and development efficiency.
- Assist with onboarding and support of new team members, sharing knowledge and documenting engineering workflows.
- Collaborate with DevOps and QA teams to enhance CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and GitHub Actions.
- Partner with security and legal teams to ensure apps meet compliance and regulatory standards, especially for DRM and video streaming technologies.
Required Qualifications & Skills
Basic Qualifications
- 7+ years of production experience with Kotlin and the Android SDK
- Proficiency with Reactive Programming and Dependency Injection
- Well-versed in different architectural patterns (MVI/MVVM or equivalent)
- Pristine communication skills to collaborate well across teams
- You write phenomenal code, tests, and documentation
- Experience resolving production issues ideally on a large scale
- Successfully lead a project from start to finish
- Experience coaching and mentoring colleagues
- Well-versed in common Android libraries (e.g: Dagger 2 / Hilt, RxJava2, Coroutines, Kotlin Flow, Jetpack Compose and other Jetpack libraries)
- Well-versed in Android CI/CD (Jenkins and Github Actions).
- A deep understanding of many aspects of the Android SDK such as Activity and Fragment lifecycles, thread management, custom views, animations and architectural patterns (View Architecture, Modularization)
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced Gradle understanding (Custom build tasks, convention plugins).
- App performance tooling experience (Benchmarking, Tracing, Threading, Perfetto, Android Profiler)
- Annotation processing (KAPT/KSP)
- Knowledgeable about maintaining a large modularized codebase
- Supporting multiple form factors (Mobile, Tablet, TV) and familiarity with Android TV / Amazon Fire TV development
- Experience with streaming video, codecs, and DRM
Required Education
- Bachelor’s degree or better in Computer Science or a related technical field or equivalent job experience.
The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
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 TWDC (Benelux) BV, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology.
Having technical issues? View the FAQs for help.
Hiring Process
-
Where Does Your Story Begin?
Explore Disney Careers and the Life at Disney blog to learn about all the amazing opportunities waiting to be discovered at The Walt Disney Company.
-
Be Part of the Story
There are many different brands and businesses to explore. Once you've found the opportunity that is right for you, take the next step by completing your application.
-
The Next Chapter
Once you've applied, you will receive an email allowing you to access your candidate dashboard. Create your login and make sure to check your dashboard often to see your application progress.
Explore this Location EMEA
Disney EMEA aims to drive growth, innovation and brand affinity across an extremely diverse collection of countries with a team of over 6,000 employees operating in 59 markets with offices in 29 countries.
Related Jobs
No jobs were found.
View All of Our Available OpportunitiesOUR CULTURE
Related Content
-
Career Opportunities Employee Stories Disney Cruise Line cast delivers magic in The Bahamas -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Culture & Values Employee Stories Work & Innovation Students & Recent Graduates Life at Disney: Hong Kong Disneyland Resort -
Career Opportunities Employee Stories Ben’s Journey from Human Resources to Facility Services -
Career Opportunities Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates A Dream to Perform Comes True for a Disney Intern at Hong Kong Disneyland -
Culture & Values Employee Stories Growing a Garden of Magic at Hong Kong Disneyland -
Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates From Disney Internships to Beyond: Meet Three Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Cast Members Making an Impact -
Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates Disney Internships Lead to Magical Friendships and Careers at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort -
Employee Stories Finding New Angles with Data Science: Meet Henry -
Students & Recent Graduates Disney International Programs -
-
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Culture & Values Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates Disney on the Yard -
Employee Stories From Shore to Sea: Simon, Manager, Fleet Operations Training -
Career Opportunities Career Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Culture & Values Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates Life at Disney LATAM Blog Posts -
Career Development Employee Stories Disney Cruise Line’s leadership team in The Bahamas on growth, building careers, and making magic -
Employee Stories Unlocking career dreams with Disney Cruise Line: Jarrett’s journey as a Third Officer Postgraduate -
-
Culture & Values Employee Stories Learn about the vibrant culture of The Walt Disney Company Latin America! -
Employee Stories Work & Innovation Life at Disney Podcast | Turning Data into Business Solutions in Latin America -
-
-
-
Job Resources Benefits Benefits - Disney Cruise Line Shipboard Roles -
Job Resources Benefits Benefits - Disney Cruise Line Island Roles -
Employee Stories Creating Magical Narratives: Bill’s Journey to Storyliving by Disney -
Career Opportunities Career Development Students & Recent Graduates Pixar Internships and Residences -
Career Opportunities Career Development Students & Recent Graduates Jedi Academy | Industrial Light & Magic -
Career Opportunities Career Development Students & Recent Graduates Marvel Internships -
Employee Stories What My Disney Internship Taught Me – As Told By Disney Songs -
Employee Stories Behind the Magic with Jenn, Disney Vacation Club Project Manager -
Career Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employee Stories Bringing Passion Through Storytelling: Meet Staff Writer, Zaire! -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employee Stories Celebrate Black History Month: How Their Stories Inspire Others to Dream -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employee Stories Celebrate Black History Month: Why the Work We Do Matters -
Employee Stories Creating a Culture of Safety: Meet Krista -
Career Development Employee Stories Creating Home-Away-From-Home Magic as a Houseman at Disneyland Resort -
Employee Stories Work & Innovation Creating Wonders & Ensuring Safety: Meet Jana, Structural Engineer, Disneyland Resort -
Career Development Employee Stories Disney Chefs Share Their Advice for Aspiring Culinary Talent -
Career Opportunities Disney Cruise Line manager of HR shares new opportunities in The Bahamas -
Career Opportunities Career Development Disney Cruise Line’s leadership team in The Bahamas on growth, building careers, and making magic -
Benefits Culture & Values Disney named Top Adoption-Friendly Workplace -
Career Opportunities Students & Recent Graduates Dreams Take Flight with UK Early Careers -
Career Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Four Women in Leadership Growing Their Careers in Japan -
Career Development Employee Stories Work & Innovation From Concept to Console: Meet Winslow, Producer III, Disney Games -
Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates Ireland Intern Spotlight: Meet Ellen and Karla! -
Employee Stories Students & Recent Graduates Meet 3 Japanese Trainees Starting Their Career With Disney -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Culture & Values Employee Stories Meet Artemis: EMEA Talent Acquisition Intern -
Career Opportunities Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion National Geographic Announces Third Year of Field Ready Program -
Career Opportunities Employee Stories Nontraditional Career Paths Lead to Technology & Digital Opportunities at Disney Parks -
Career Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employee Stories Q&A with Domi Flores-Wong: A Nontraditional Career Path into Technology at Disney -
Work & Innovation Securing the Magic at Disney -
Career Opportunities Employee Stories Taking a Chance and Finding a Dream Job: Meet Kati, Ride & Show Technician -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: Wisdom and Stories from Emerging Black Leaders at Disney -
Hiring Process Employee Stories Unlock the Magic: Your Guide to Disney College Program Character Performer Auditions -
Employee Stories Will, Disney Cruise Line HR manager and Navy veteran, supports crew and discovers his own Disney magic -
Culture & Values Students & Recent Graduates Disney Internships Lead to Magical Friendships and Careers at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Culture & Values Employee Stories Women + Tech BERG Spotlight: Meet Four Female Technologists -
Career Development Employee Stories A Day in the Life of Anthony, a Disney Recreation Coordinator -
Job Resources Benefits Benefits - Disney Cruise Line Shoreside Roles -
Culture & Values A Wish Every Hour of Every Day -
Career Opportunities Disneyland Resort Hiring Events -
Career Opportunities Disneyland Resort Culinary Hiring Events -
Benefits Company Values
-
Executive Leadership
Our senior executives bring tremendous experience, visionary thinking and a shared commitment to excellence, creativity and innovation to the day to day operation of the company.
Learn more -
Social Responsibility
Explore our commitments and our work to create a better world through our stories, experiences, operations, and philanthropy.
Learn more -
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Disney, we are committed to creating a better world. A world of belonging where each person feels seen, heard, and understood. A world filled with hope and promise.
Learn more -
Heroes Work Here
Heroes Work Here reflects the long history of respect and appreciation Disney has for the U.S. Armed Services. We recognize the commitment and dedication it takes to serve your country, both as military personnel and military spouses, and value the leadership skills and sense of purpose it has instilled in you.
Learn more
Sign Up for Job Alerts
Get the latest job opportunities as they become available.
SHARE
Links open in new tabs.