Director, Core Player Engineering jobs in United States
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The Walt Disney Company · 1 month ago

Director, Core Player Engineering

positionNew York, NY
timeFull-time
remoteOnsite
seniorityDirector/Executive
money$240K/yr - $321K/yr
date12+ years exp

The Walt Disney Company is a global leader in media and entertainment, seeking a Director of Core Player Engineering to oversee their media player strategy across various devices. This role involves providing strategic direction, managing teams, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality media playback experiences for millions of users globally.

Amusement Park and ArcadeAnimationConsumer GoodsDigital MediaE-CommerceMedia and EntertainmentMulti-level MarketingPerforming ArtsResorts
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H1B Sponsor Likelynote

Responsibilities

Provide vision and strategic direction for Core Player Engineering, spanning device pipelines, player engines, browser integrations, and client applications, to provide cohesive media player strategy across mobile, web, living room devices, and set top boxes
Accomplish business objectives including feature changes in players, expanded device coverage, and global distribution
Lead leaders: manage and develop senior managers and technical leads across multiple playback domains
Champion observability, data-driven decision making, and playback quality metrics to continuously improve reliability and user experience
Ensure playback systems are built for scale, resiliency, and low latency, supporting both live and on-demand streaming globally
Guide teams working on ads and monetization, with a premium on HLS interstitials and integrations with ad tech
Collaborate cross-functionally with backend streaming infrastructure, CDN, DRM/security, and client teams to deliver an integrated experience
Recruit, develop, and retain world-class engineers and leaders, building a culture of innovation, accountability, and technical excellence
Manage team roadmap and team execution, ensuring date commitments are met in the greater context of projects, across our Core Player teams - 40%
Ensure engineering excellence and quality. - 20%
Drive strategic player strategy to achieve business objectives. - 20%
Lead leaders and senior engineers including career management and development. - 20%

Qualification

C++RustKotlinJavaScriptHLSDASHCMAFExoPlayerAVPlayerMSE/EMEStreaming protocolsHigh-scale streaming mediaContinuous improvementExecutive presenceLeadershipCollaboration

Required

Minimum of 12 years of related work experience
Driving architecture excellence across C++, Rust, Kotlin, and JavaScript ecosystems, guiding teams with strong technical judgment
Expertise in HLS, DASH, CMAF, and low-level playback implementations
Leading large, distributed engineering organizations in media playback or adjacent domains
Driving end-to-end ownership of media systems, from device-level pipelines to player engines
Strong executive presence and ability to align technical direction with business strategy
Familiarity with ExoPlayer, AVPlayer, MSE/EME, streaming protocols (HLS, DASH, CMAF), ads, and device-level porting
High-scale streaming media, including live events and global delivery
Inspiring leaders and engineers, fostering collaboration and continuous improvement
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

Benefits

A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package
The full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits

Company

The Walt Disney Company

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The Walt Disney Company started as a cartoon studio and evolves into sports coverage and television shows.
dateFounded in 1923
location
Burbank, California, USA
people-size10001+ employees
web-link
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com

H1B Sponsorship

The Walt Disney Company has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (83)
2024 (63)
2023 (96)
2022 (130)
2021 (30)
2020 (40)

Funding

Current Stage
Public Company
Total Funding
$11B
Key Investors
Citibank
2020-04-13Post Ipo Debt· $5B
2020-03-20Post Ipo Debt· $6B
1978-01-06IPO

Leadership Team

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Robert Iger
CEO
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Christine M. McCarthy
Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
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Recent News

Business Wire
The Walt Disney Company Establishes New Enterprise Marketing Organization; Names Asad Ayaz Chief Marketing and Brand Officer
2026-01-16
Variety
Disney Ups Jimmy Zasowski to President of Platform Distribution for Disney Entertainment, ESPN
2026-01-09
The Verge
Disney Plus is getting vertical video
2026-01-08
Company data provided by crunchbase