Job Details

Lead Machine Learning Engineer

We are seeking a Lead Machine Learning Engineer with a passion for cutting‑edge AI to drive impactful solutions in the Customer Support domain. This role offers the opportunity to lead applied research and engineering efforts that bring intelligent automation and personalized experiences to millions of customers across Disney's media platforms. You'll partner with cross‑functional teams to design, prototype, and productionize AI‑driven systems — from natural language understanding to agent assist tools and predictive analytics — all with the goal of enhancing the customer support experience.

Job Summary

Our work is at the intersection of technology and storytelling. We build world‑class products that support Disney's streaming, digital, and advertising businesses, delivering scale, velocity, and innovation at a global level.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly analyze and prototype AI‑driven solutions for self‑service and CS agent tools.
• Own and maintain production AI systems, including LLM‑based solutions; optimize, fine‑tune, and debug for robustness and performance.
• Bridge customer support needs with commerce platform capabilities, identifying appropriate AI solutions versus new development.
• Assess effectiveness of deployed AI solutions, iterating and sunsetting or replacing those that lack meaningful impact.
• Collaborate with other AI‑focused teams across Disney Streaming to share innovations and adopt best practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field; PhD is a plus.
• 2+ years of experience building, deploying, and evaluating LLM‑based solutions.
• Minimum 7 years of related work experience in real‑world ML solution deployment.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and relevant programming languages.
• Experience with data wrangling tools (Pandas, NumPy) and databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL).
• Familiarity with big‑data and workflow platforms (Spark, Databricks, Snowflake, Airflow, Jupyter, GitHub).
• Proven experience leading end‑to‑end ML project lifecycles, including model design, experimentation, deployment CI/CD, and monitoring.
• Strong problem‑solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with Amazon Web Services.
• Experience with Tableau, Power BI, or similar analytics platforms.
• Experience building anomaly detection models.

Compensation & Benefits

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $175,800 to $235,700 per year; in Los Angeles, CA $167,700 to $224,900 per year; and in San Francisco, CA $183,700 to $246,400 per year. The base pay will also reflect internal equity and other factors. Bonuses and long‑term incentive units may also be provided. Standard benefits include medical, financial, and other typical Disney employment perks.

About Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

We blend imagination and innovation to reimagine how people experience Disney's stories and products. Our team builds technology backbone for Disney's global media business.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Disney is an equal‑opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds. We will provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you need an accommodation, email ...@Disney.com.