Staff Software Engineer, Media Experiences

Imagine shaping how millions worldwide engage with video and audio every single day. At Reddit, we're on a mission to build the most open and authentic conversations on the internet, and vibrant media experiences are absolutely central to that. We're searching for an exceptional Staff Software Engineer to join our team, someone who can lead the charge on evolving our media infrastructure. This is a fully remote opportunity, open to talent from anywhere in the world, where your expertise will directly influence how users discover, share, and connect through rich content.

Overview

Reddit is truly a community of communities, a place built on shared interests and passionate discussions. With over 100,000 active communities and approximately 126 million daily unique visitors, we are one of the internet's largest and most dynamic sources of information and connection. We are now looking for a Staff Software Engineer to play a pivotal role in our Media Experiences team. In this position, you will define the core strategy and lead the technical architecture for how we ingest, process, store, and deliver video and audio content across Reddit. You will tackle incredibly complex technical challenges and, at the same time, help shape our media product strategy to deliver high-quality, seamless media experiences to our global audience.

Key Responsibilities

Your work as a Staff Software Engineer on Media Experiences will involve several critical areas, allowing you to make a profound impact:

Architect for Scale: You will lead the design and evolution of our global media processing and delivery infrastructure. This means ensuring low-latency, high-availability media for millions of users across diverse network conditions.
Optimize Media Pipelines: Building and optimizing resilient backend services will be central to this role. You will focus on video and audio ingestion, distributed transcoding, content delivery network (CDN) integration, and adaptive streaming technologies.
Define Media Strategy: Contribute significantly to the overall strategy for media delivery. This involves exploring new technologies and setting the technical direction for how Reddit handles all forms of rich media.
Drive Innovation: Identify and implement cutting-edge solutions for media quality, performance, and reliability. You will be at the forefront of improving our users' media consumption experience.
Technical Leadership: Provide expert guidance and mentorship to other engineers on the team. You will foster a culture of technical excellence and best practices.

Requirements

To thrive in this critical role, you will bring a wealth of experience and expertise:

Extensive professional experience as a Staff or Principal Software Engineer, with a strong emphasis on media processing and delivery.
Deep understanding and hands-on experience with large-scale distributed systems and cloud architectures (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).
Proven track record in designing, building, and operating high-performance, fault-tolerant media pipelines for video and audio.
Expertise in media encoding, transcoding, streaming protocols (HLS, DASH), and content delivery networks (CDNs).
Proficiency in at least one modern backend programming language, such as Go, Java, Python, or C++.
Experience with real-time media processing and low-latency delivery is a significant advantage.
A passion for delivering exceptional user experiences and a keen eye for media quality.
Strong communication skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

What You'll Gain

Joining Reddit means becoming part of a unique and passionate organization. Here is what you can expect in this role:

Massive Impact: Your work will directly influence how millions of users consume and share media, shaping a core part of the Reddit experience.
Technical Challenge: You will tackle some of the most interesting and complex problems in large-scale media infrastructure, pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
Growth and Development: Reddit is a place where continuous learning is valued. You will have opportunities to expand your skills, explore new technologies, and grow your leadership capabilities.
Dynamic Culture: Work with a talented, diverse, and supportive team in a fast-paced environment that values authenticity and innovation.
Remote Flexibility: Enjoy the flexibility of a fully remote, worldwide position, allowing you to thrive from wherever you do your best work.