Senior R&D Software Developer Jobs in Orlando, FL

At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) 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.

We are responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology and digital-led initiatives across Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, In-Park & Direct-To-Consumer Merchandise and Licensing & Publishing lines of business. 

This role sits in the Commerce Architecture & Security organization within Disney Experiences Technology (DXT).  

The Senior Manager, Software Engineering reports to the Director, Software Engineering and leads a core team of highly technical Software Architects. 

 About the Role & Team 

As Senior Manager, Engineering within Commerce Architecture & Security, you will lead a highly collaborative solution architecture function focused on designing, governing, and delivering scalable, secure, and resilient technology solutions that directly enable business outcomes. 

This team operates at the intersection of business strategy and engineering execution translating business needs into actionable solution designs that guide delivery teams. You will ensure solutions are well-architected, align to the Architecture vision, and are optimized for performance, security, and long-term sustainability. 

Your team will partner closely with Product, Engineering, Platform, and Architecture teams to ensure that individual solutions fit cohesively within the broader technology ecosystem while remaining pragmatic, delivery-oriented, and outcome-driven. 

 What You Will Do 

Solution Architecture Leadership 

• Lead and develop a team responsible for end-to-end solution architecture, from concept through delivery and lifecycle management. 
• Provide hands-on architectural leadership across complex, multi-system initiatives spanning digital and physical Guest experiences. 
• Guide teams in analyzing, designing, programming, debugging, and enhancing software solutions across diverse computing environments. 
• Evaluate and embrace appropriate AI tools and solutions both within your team, and as part of the projects and programs you enable.  

Business & Solution Alignment 

• Develop a deep understanding of business objectives and translate them into solution architectures that are scalable, secure, and aligned to delivery timelines. 
• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to shape solution scope, sequencing, and trade-offs. 

Architecture Design & Governance 

• Own solution-level architectural decisions, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards, platform strategies, and security requirements. 
• Establish and enforce solution architecture patterns, reference architectures, and design guidelines. 
• Lead and participate in architecture reviews to validate solution designs and mitigate risk early. 

Technology Roadmaps & Delivery Enablement 

• Contribute to and consume enterprise and platform roadmaps to inform solution planning. 
• Supervise delivery optimization for large-scale or complex programs, ensuring architectural integrity throughout implementation. 
• Support estimation, planning, and dependency management across portfolios. 

Risk, Quality & Metrics 

• Identify and manage technical risk, security considerations, performance concerns, and technical debt at the solution level. 
• Define, review, and evolve metrics that measure solution health, reliability, and scalability. 
• Ensure operational readiness, supportability, and long-term sustainability of delivered solutions. 

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement 

• Act as a key liaison between Engineering, Product, Platform, Architecture, and Technology leadership. 
• Communicate architectural decisions clearly to executive, technical, and non-technical audiences. 
• Identify opportunities where existing capabilities or platforms can be leveraged to accelerate delivery and improve outcomes for Cast and Guests. 
• Ensure your partner teams are set up for successful delivery and operation of new or enhanced capabilities. 

Innovation & Continuous Improvement 

• Proactively track and assess emerging technologies, patterns, and industry trends. 
• Recommend pragmatic innovations that improve delivery speed, quality, and Guest experience. 

 Required Qualifications & Skills 

• Minimum 10 years of related experience with demonstrated expertise in:  
• Software Engineering Technical Design 
• Solution and Enterprise Architecture 
• Software Engineering Delivery and Leadership 
• Proven experience designing and delivering highly scalable, high-volume, distributed systems in Agile environments. 
• Strong understanding of cloud-native architectures, integration patterns, APIs, infrastructure, data flows, and security-by-design. 
• Experience leading and mentoring Principal Software Architects & Engineers and technical leaders. 
• Ability to balance architectural rigor with delivery pragmatism. 
• Strong analytical skills with experience identifying and mitigating technical risk and technical debt. 
• Executive-level written and verbal communication skills. 
• Comfort with public speaking and presenting to varied audiences (executive, engineering, and cross-functional forums). 
• Experience collaborating within hybrid organizations (centralized architecture with federated delivery teams). 
• Budget and forecast management experience. 
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture concepts and frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, ArchiMate) 
• Strong understanding of the relationship between Business Partners, Project/Program Management, Product, Architecture, Engineering, and Testing functions. 
• Familiarity with AI tools and approaches as applied to Software Architecture & Engineering. 

 Education 

Bachelor’s degree (or foreign equivalent) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or a comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience. 

 Additional Information 

• Position location: Orlando, Florida or Glendale, California 

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