Lead Engineer - AI/ML
Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 10135977 Location Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States / Burbank, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States Business The Walt Disney Company (Corporate) Date posted Nov. 20, 2025Job Summary:
The Disney Decision Science + Integration (DDSI) is a consulting team that supports clients across The Walt Disney Company, including Disney Experiences (Parks & Resorts worldwide, Cruise Line, Consumer Products, etc.), Disney Entertainment (ABC, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Theatrical, Disney Streaming Services, etc.), ESPN, and Corporate Finance. Key partners to the DDSI organization include Marketing, Finance, Business Development, Research, and Operations. We develop, analyze, and execute strategies and improve the value proposition for our Guests, Cast Members, and Shareholders. The team leverages technology, data analytics, optimization, statistical and econometric modeling to explore opportunities, shape business decisions and drive business value.
Our team within DDSI is seeking a highly experienced Lead Engineer - AI/ML to lead solutions in the generative AI and AI/ML space. You will be responsible for designing the solution blueprints that bridge the gap between complex business problems and cutting-edge AI capabilities. This role is pivotal in translating product vision into a feasible and scalable technical architecture and with reusable design patterns, with a focus on designing the agentic workflows and service patterns that will commercialize DDSI's unique forecasting and optimization models for the enterprise AI Ecosystem.
Responsibilities:
Design and own the solution architecture for DDSI's AI/ML solutions, including multi-step agentic workflows, RAG patterns for structured and unstructured data, and MCP-based "smart specialist" services.
Partner with Product Managers and business stakeholders to translate complex business needs into viable, scalable, and secure technical solution designs.
Serve as the primary technical liaison between DDSI and the central AI Ecosystem engineering teams, ensuring our solutions are architected for seamless integration and performance on the enterprise platform.
Lead the technical evaluation of new AI frameworks, vendor platforms, and architectural patterns, conducting rapid proof-of-concept builds to prove feasibility and guide technical direction.
Act as a hands-on technical expert and mentor, guiding engineering teams on best practices for building robust, reusable, and maintainable agentic systems.
Create and maintain architectural documentation, including reference architectures and "cookbooks" that enable other teams to leverage DDSI's patterns and services.
Identify and mitigate technical risks in the solution design phase, ensuring long-term scalability and alignment with enterprise technology standards.
Basic Qualifications:
7+ years of experience in software engineering and/or data science, with at least 4+ years in a technical leadership or architecture role focused on AI/ML.
Deep understanding of AI agent architectures, including concepts like planning, memory, and tool integration (e.g., ReAct, RAG, MCP).
Expertise with the AI/ML ecosystem, including LLM application and agentic frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel).
Proven full-stack experience designing scalable, services-oriented architectures on a major cloud platform (e.g., AWS, GCP).
Strong proficiency in core programming languages used in AI/ML (e.g., Python).
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and design elegant solutions for complex technical challenges.
Preferred Qualifications:
Deep familiarity with Decision Science disciplines like optimization, simulation, and advanced forecasting.
Experience designing solutions for multi-tenant platforms or two-sided marketplaces.
Hands-on experience with enterprise MLOps/LLMOps tools and principles.
Experience with knowledge graphs and semantic technologies.
Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate complex architectural concepts to both technical and non-technical leadership.
Familiarity with Disney business domain knowledge.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study and/or equivalent work experience
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The hiring range for this position in Burbank, CA is $ 155,700 to $208,700 per year and in New York, NY and Seattle, WA is $163,100 to $218,700 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 The Walt Disney Company (Corporate):
At Disney Corporate you can see how the businesses behind the Company’s powerful brands come together to create the most innovative, far-reaching and admired entertainment company in the world. As a member of a corporate team, you’ll work with world-class leaders driving the strategies that keep The Walt Disney Company at the leading edge of entertainment. See and be seen by other innovative thinkers as you enable the greatest storytellers in the world to create memories for millions of families around the globe.
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 Worldwide Services, Inc., which is part of a business we call The Walt Disney Company (Corporate).
Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. 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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