Staff Software Engineer

At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company is a world-class entertainment and technological leader. Walt’s passion was to continuously envision new ways to move audiences around the world—a passion that remains our touchstone in an enterprise that stretches from theme parks, resorts and a cruise line to sports, news, movies and a variety of other businesses. Uniting each endeavor is a commitment to creating and delivering unforgettable experiences — and we’re constantly looking for new ways to enhance these exciting experiences.

The Enterprise Technology mission is to deliver technology solutions that align to business strategies while enabling enterprise efficiency and promoting cross-company collaborative innovation.  The Enterprise Technology organization drives competitive advantage by enhancing our consumer experiences, enabling business growth, and advancing operational excellence. 

This role is located within the Core Systems and Platforms (CSP) Organization under the Financial Value Chain business solutions area.  Finance Value Chains will be delivering Priority Business Solutions aligned with the enterprise architecture for the Finance, Tax and Treasury Value Chains. We lead with a Business Architecture framework and own the core financial systems and related functions domain technology roadmap.

The Staff Software Engineer is a technical leadership role within Enterprise technology, responsible for translating business requirements into functional software that delivers value to the business. The role will work on the technical Tax and Finance platforms and services ensuring technology solutions are delivered end-to-end in line with architectural standards, delivering on business capability and collaboration with support operations. This role will lead matrix projects and 3rd party resources. The span of the role will encompass design, development, testing, implementation of software, support, and strategic planning.

Role Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead the development of specifications for software development projects
• Leads software development activities for the full lifecycle of major software development projects
• Lead end-to-end system testing including SaaS solutions and ERP systems
• Conceive and set the technical architectural direction for software development projects
• Ensure quality of software delivery 
• Involved in technical strategic planning and roadmaps
• Ensure technical solutions support the requirements, lead technical design sessions
• Responsible for the technical guidance of platform projects, where a project comprises of multiple components
• Responsible for tax and finance platform technology projects & integration work to support the systems – design, test, delivery activities
• Responsible for supporting current tax and finance platforms working with the security and support organizations
• Proactively identifies issues and analyze options to resolve
• Manages escalations to leadership and to vendors as appropriate to drive results
• Continually apprises leadership and relevant stakeholders of status of technical activities
• Collaborates closely with partners across the organization including business partners, architects, and delivery managers
• Builds strong relationships with and manages large and diverse groups of stakeholders at multiple levels, from end users to executives, across the enterprise
• Mentor high-performance teams, train staff on Software Engineering standards and processes

Skills & Key Attributes

• Strong technology background and skills
• Strong communication, consensus-building, and executive presentation skills
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical clients
• Ability to effectively manage project stakeholders across multiple levels across the enterprise
• Ability to make difficult decisions balancing business requirements, project timelines and budgets, and product and technology roadmaps and architectural designs
• Embraces innovation by constantly seeking new and industry leading ideas. Thinks big and broad, without being constrained by existing norms or business models.
• Demonstrates stamina, resilience, and perseverance under trying circumstances
• Comfort with ambiguity, frequent change, or unpredictability
• Ability to anticipate risks and devise solutions in the moment, prioritize work and meet deadlines
• Ability to decide and act without having the total picture and comfortable handling risk and uncertainty
• Self-starter, who can effectively navigate a complex organizational structure

Experience

• 7+ years proven experience in Software Engineering or software development roles, experience in SQL, Alteryx, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) preferred
• Demonstrated success in complex coding, testing and delivery
• Knowledge of ITIL v3 or later and ITSM best practices
• Strong communication, writing, and executive presentation skills
• Able to translate complex ideas into understandable strategies, requirements, value statements, and business outcomes
• Demonstrated experience leading matrixed teams to deliver complex projects or technology transformation initiatives
• Proven ability to build and motivate a team to achieve well-communicated expectations
• Experience implementing or leading using agile software development methodologies (PMI-ACP, SAFe Agilist, ICP-ACC, etc.) and running the full SDLC
• Experience working in an outsourced IT environment and building strong collaborative vendor relationships

Education

• BS in Computer Science or related technology field. Masters in Computer Science or related technology field preferred.

The hiring range for this position in California is $149,240 to $200,200.0 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.