Director, Media Systems Engineering
Company: The Walt Disney Company
Location: Charlotte
Posted on: April 1, 2026
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Job Description:
Job Posting Title: Director, Media Systems Engineering Req ID:
10141997 Job Description: Technology is at the heart of Disney’s
past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product &
Technology is a global organization of engineers, product
developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more –
all working to build and advance the technological backbone for
Disney’s media business globally. The team marries technology with
creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and
drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We
are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders.
Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt
Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological
foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of
people around the world. Here are a few reasons why we think you’d
love working here: 1. Building the future of Disney’s media: Our
Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms
that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses
for years to come. 2. Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever,
Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for
fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney.
Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands
– and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry –
matter to millions of people globally. 3. Innovation: We develop
and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape
industry norms, and solve complex and distinctive technical
problems. Content Platforms & Operations Content Platforms &
Operations is responsible for the development and ongoing
advancement of the technical and operational functions driving the
worldwide distribution and monetization of Disney’s linear networks
and theatrical content. This includes Disney’s media supply chain
and storage, network and theatrical distribution operations, media
localization, network transmission and origination, and more. The
global team also plays a critical role as the primary collaboration
point for Product & Technology with Disney’s EMEA, APAC, and LATAM
regional business teams. Job Summary: Disney Media Systems
Engineers have a clear charter: to transform the capability and
flexibility of how Disney acquires, produces, and distributes
content worldwide, all while ensuring the highest levels of
quality, efficiency, and resiliency. Disney Media Systems Engineers
are subject matter experts on complex and multifaceted disciplines
which requires a deep knowledge of hardware and software-based
technologies. Individuals in these roles must possess a
comprehensive theoretical and practical understanding of the
technology that powers the generation, monetization, and
distribution of all forms of consumer- facing linear and digital
video/audio content. The team is responsible for the oversight of
numerous systems such as Playout Technology, Studios, Production
Control Rooms, Remote Production, Post-Production,
Contribution/Distribution Systems, Networking, Cloud Compute,
Production Software and Virtual Environment and more. The Director
Media Systems Engineer acts as a technical leader and is
responsible for working with engineers to architect solutions to
business/stakeholder requests. This individual will also work
closely with management, Executive Leadership, and key stakeholders
to gather infrastructure requirements and holds the accountability
for influencing the advancement of Disney’s technical posture and
approach. This includes being accountable for the strategy and
implementation of our core technology, as well as defining and
directing the strategic vision and roadmap for the technological
framework across key locations. The Director Media Systems Engineer
will work with vendors and industry trade organizations to define
and evolve industry standards that impact our business. The
Director Media Systems Engineer will work collaboratively with
engineers and architects to lead all aspects of the design and
build of Disney’s most impactful projects and will leverage their
experience to create policies, procedures, and standards that drive
all our technological development. Responsibilities and Duties of
the Role: Lead the development of or develops innovating
broad-scale technical solutions that have a significant impact on
future technological practices and standards of the organization.
Direct, oversee resolution of broader scope issues that affect
content acquisition, production, encoding, decoding, and content
distribution across multiple DE&E Technology networks (linear,
digital, and streaming platforms) including multi-resolution
support across broadcast facilities (720p/1080/4K/UHD/HDR),
metadata conversion, audio mapping, system outages, microservices
architecture, and related technical problems. Oversee a team of
engineers to implement and execute on-prem and cloud-based
infrastructure projects that support broadcast production for
distribution, conditioning, monitoring, and routing infrastructure,
between and throughout all facilities for content ingest and
network distribution. Direct, architect, design, and implement
media technology environments that are aligned with industry
standards for innovation, which allow DE&E Technology the
ability to acquire, produce, store, stream, and distribute our
content across all infrastructure. Drive infrastructure
re-engineering and integration efforts inclusive of documenting and
analyzing complex business workflows, requirement gathering from
stakeholders, defining areas of innovation opportunity, and
overseeing the design of future state processes. Accountable for
the modernization of legacy media production infrastructure systems
through the identification of new technological innovations and
advancements within the industry. (i.e. SMPTE ST 2110, 4K, UHD,
HDR, JPEG-XS, NDI, ProRes Raw, H.265, AV1, and more) Collaborate
closely with Production and Content operations teams to gather
requirements and develop solutions based on broadcast facility’s
needs, vet broadcast systems workflows, implement new cutting-edge
technologies, and steer television standards organizations. Drive
the overall investigative strategy of our organization to bring
synergy and efficiency across Disney facilities and our overall
broadcast ecosystem. Partner with our Portfolio and finance teams
on project capital planning and forecasting, estimations,
dependencies, business value/justification, synergy, and
prioritization of work. Required Education,
Experience/Skills/Training: Basic Qualifications 12 years of
demonstrated and relevant experience in leading others, developing
technical strategies ensuring efficient design/build, uptime, and
overall stability of the technical environments of live media
production and distribution. Proficient with technologies like
microservices, DevOps tools, design principles, practices,
standards, and guidelines Proficient with software development,
scripting, and integration with 3rd party services via api.
Java/Python/Typescript preferred. Proficient in cloud orchestration
(ie CloudFormation, terraform) and CI/CD Working knowledge of IP
based routing, DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, HTTP, UDP, SSL, and SNMP. Expert
knowledge in standards for broadcast television and video
production/streaming environments with a current certification such
as not limited to ST 292M, ST 424M, ST 2110, ST 2059, IEE1588, ST
2022-7, SCTE-104, NMOS IS-04, 05, etc. Expert level knowledge and
experience with on-prem and cloud-based storage and compute
infrastructure platforms and current technological offerings.
(Virtual machines, docker containers) File-based workflows like
enterprise Media Asset Management systems (Cloud-based Cloud
Compute or Local Network-based) including storage, compute, encode
and distribution. Expert level knowledge and experience with
compression techniques such as MPEG2/4, HEVC, JPEG 2000, and JPEG
XS. Master Expert level knowledge and experience with major media
systems and the vendors that supply them in areas such as asset
management systems, file-based workflows, media acquisition,
transcoding/encoding, graphics, and NAS/SAN technologies. Required
Education Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering, computer
science, and/or equivalent 10 years of work experience. The base
salary for this position in Charlotte, North Carolina is
$163,400.00-$219,100.00 . 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. Job Posting Segment:
Content Platforms & Operations Job Posting Primary Business: CPO -
Infrastructure Engineering Primary Job Posting Category: Media
Systems Engineering Employment Type: Full time Primary City, State,
Region, Postal Code: Charlotte, NC, USA Alternate City, State,
Region, Postal Code: Date Posted: 2026-02-04
Keywords: The Walt Disney Company, Rock Hill , Director, Media Systems Engineering, Engineering , Charlotte, South Carolina
