Staff Software Engineer

Job Description

At HBO Max, storytelling takes center stage. We're one of the world's most iconic entertainment brands - home to bold originals and unforgettable characters. While audiences binge award-winning content, breaking news, and sports around the clock, our teams stay busy at work creating what's next in streaming. From Succession, Euphoria, and The Sopranos to global franchises like Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, our content sparks conversation and shapes culture.
HBO Max delivers boundary-pushing stories across genres and platforms, connecting millions of viewers across 90 countries globally- and we're just getting started. We're home to the most talked about shows and movies, granting audiences access to the worlds of HBO, Harry Potter, DC, Warner Bros., ID, Adult Swim, A24, and more. Turn your streaming obsession into a career- we're hiring!
We are seeking a seasoned Staff Engineer to lead backend development efforts for our Global Consumer Identity & Authentication platform. This role is ideal for a technical leader who thrives in high-scale environments, is passionate about operational excellence, and enjoys mentoring others while driving architectural decisions. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of identity services across Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming platforms.

Key Responsibilities
• Leading efforts in tech debt reduction, platform modernization, or reliability improvements. Balancing trade-offs between speed, quality, and cost.
• Navigating ambiguity with data-driven and experience-informed choices.
• Architect and build scalable, secure backend systems using technologies such as AWS, container orchestration tools (such as ECS, Kubernetes), databases including PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and MongoDB, and messaging systems like Kafka and SQS.
• Lead development of cloud-native services at global scale, with deep experience in multi-region deployments, failover strategies, and cost-optimized infrastructure. Proven ability to scale systems to handle millions of requests per day with high availability and low latency.
• Drive operational excellence through CI/CD, monitoring, and lead incident postmortems and root cause analyses with a focus on systemic improvements and learning culture.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and engineering teams to deliver high-impact solutions.
• Mentor and guide engineers across levels, fostering a culture of technical excellence and growth.
• Explore and integrate intelligent automation and AI/ML capabilities to enhance platform security, scalability, and operational efficiency. Drive strategic initiatives that align with long-term business and technology goals.
• Own end-to-end delivery of complex features, ensuring performance, reliability, and maintainability.
• Drive platform-first thinking by designing reusable, extensible components and services that accelerate development across multiple product teams. Champion internal developer experience (DevEx) and platform reliability as key pillars of engineering success.
Qualifications
• 7+ years of professional experience in backend software engineering, including leading key features of large-scale service development.
• Proven track record of designing and delivering resilient cloud-native systems.
• Familiarity with modern Java features including Vert.x and Spring Boot.
• Deep expertise in backend frameworks and distributed systems, with hands-on experience in AWS and EKS.
• Demonstrated expertise in secure system design, including authentication protocols (OAuth2, OpenID Connect), data protection strategies, and threat modeling. Experience acting as a security champion within engineering teams, advocating for secure coding practices and compliance with industry standards (e.g., OWASP, NIST).
• Experience with observability tools (Grafana, Prometheus, Telegraph), databases (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB), and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform).
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and lead cross-team initiatives.
• Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
• Passion for continuous learning, innovation, and driving technical excellence.
• Leading efforts in tech debt reduction, platform modernization, or reliability improvements.
• Balancing trade-offs between speed, quality, and cost.
• Navigating ambiguity with data-driven and experience-informed choices.

Championing Inclusion at WBD
Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.
If you're a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.
In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, skill set, experience, and/or performance. Base pay is just one component of Warner Bros. Discovery's total compensation package for employees. Pay Range: $145,600.00 - $270,400.00 salary per year. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, an employee wellness program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-ve44vw-216-73-216-0-42 in your application.