Senior Android Video Player Engineer

About the Role

Kake is a remote-first global community composed of senior engineers behind some of the world’s most innovative products. The company values contributions above location, fostering a culture where professionals grow, thrive, and collaborate from over 55 countries. We are currently seeking a Senior Android Video Player Engineer who has extensive production experience in live video streaming and excels at ensuring high-quality playback across Android and Android TV devices. This position offers an opportunity to take full ownership over playback reliability in a sophisticated, large-scale streaming ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and fine-tune Android video player frameworks and SDKs tailored for live streaming scenarios.
• Customize ExoPlayer components, including adaptive bitrate (ABR) algorithms and player-building tools, to enhance playback efficiency and user experience.
• Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve intricate playback issues such as buffering delays, latency concerns, and rebuffering events within live streaming environments.
• Manage dynamic streaming manifests like MPD and M3U8 and ensure adaptive bitrate workflows provide smooth playback under variable network conditions.
• Integrate and sustain advertising technologies including IMA, DAI, and SSAI within the video player framework.
• Leverage quality of experience (QoE) analytics tools to diagnose issues and drive improvements in real-world playback performance.
• Collaborate extensively with cross-functional teams to maintain premium playback quality and reliability on diverse Android devices.
• Lead best practice development and continuous enhancement initiatives across streaming projects within the organization.

Required Qualifications

• 7 or more years of experience in Android development, specializing in Kotlin and Java programming languages.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing, building, and sustaining video players and live playback features for Android and Android TV platforms.
• Strong practical knowledge of ExoPlayer, including its customization and optimization tailored for live streaming applications.
• Proven skills diagnosing and optimizing playback elements such as latency, rebuffering, and overall stability.
• Understanding of streaming standards and protocols like DASH and HLS, as well as advertising integration technologies (IMA, SSAI, DAI).
• Experience utilizing video analytics or quality of experience metrics from platforms such as Conviva, Mux, or Hydrolix to monitor and enhance playback quality.
• Proficiency in Jetpack Compose, Kotlin Coroutines, and Flow for modern Android UI and asynchronous programming.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both verbal and written.
• Ability to work autonomously in a fast-moving remote work setting.

Preferred Experience

• Previous roles within broadcasting or over-the-top (OTT) media environments.
• Experience in live sports streaming at a large scale.
• Flexibility to work hours that overlap US Pacific Time zones for 5-6 hours daily with distributed teams.

Additional Information

• This role requires daily overlap of 5 to 6 hours with the US Pacific time zone.

Why Work at Kake?

• Competitive compensation paid in US dollars, supporting a global workforce.
• Fully remote work environment empowering trust and flexibility.
• Personal growth supported through a dedicated "Better Me Fund."
• Engagement in a compassionate community dedicated to social good.