Senior iOS Video Player Engineer

About Kake and the Role

Kake is a remote-first, globally connected community of senior software engineers, contributing to innovative projects for Fortune 500 and rapidly growing companies worldwide. With over 45,000 engineers in more than 55 countries, Kake emphasizes skills and contributions over location, creating a culture where talented individuals grow, thrive, and feel valued.

Primary Responsibilities

• Architect, implement, and maintain live video playback features for iOS and tvOS platforms.
• Enhance HLS playback using AVPlayer by focusing on reducing startup latency, minimizing buffering, lowering playback latency, and boosting playback reliability.
• Identify and fix intricate playback issues in live streaming such as errors, playback stalls, and live edge drift.
• Optimize streaming performance at scale to guarantee consistent and high-quality viewing for users.
• Leverage video analytics and quality of experience (QoE) metrics to troubleshoot and improve real-user playback experience.
• Collaborate across teams to uphold device-wide playback standards and quality.
• Support best practices and drive continuous enhancements in streaming projects.

Required Qualifications

• At least 6 years of professional iOS development experience, with solid proficiency in Swift and Objective-C.
• Proven background developing and maintaining video streaming players and live playback modules for iOS and tvOS.
• Hands-on expertise in HLS streaming and AVPlayer tuning to improve live stream playback behavior.
• Deep knowledge in debugging playback issues including rebuffering, startup delays, and ensuring stable playback.
• Understanding of streaming protocols and concepts such as latency, live edge positioning, drift, adaptive bitrate (ABR) algorithms, and integration of digital rights management (DRM).
• Experience utilizing video analytics platforms (like Mux, Conviva) to assess and improve live playback quality.
• Strong communication skills in English, capable of working independently in a fast-paced remote environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in large-scale live sports streaming environments.
• Familiarity with advertisement technology particularly in live streaming contexts.
• Availability to work flexible hours to accommodate overlapping hours with globally distributed teams.

Additional Details

Working hours require 6 to 7 hours daily overlap with US Pacific Standard Time (PST) zones.

Why Work at Kake?

• Competitive compensation paid in USD, facilitating a global work and pay model.
• Fully remote work model, emphasizing trust and autonomy.
• Personal development support through the "Better Me Fund."
• A socially conscious and supportive community culture.