Senior Software Engineer, TV Playback (C++)

Spotify AB; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extensive learning opportunities

Flexible share incentives

Global parental leave

Employee assistance program

Flexible public holidays

Job summary

Spotify AB is seeking a C++ engineer for their Native Playback team, crucial for optimizing the audio and video playback experience on TV devices. The role, based in London or Stockholm, offers the flexibility to work from home with some in-person collaboration expected.

Key responsibilities include designing and evolving the playback integration layer, debugging performance issues, and collaborating across teams. Candidates should have strong experience in C++, ideally in media, and a solid understanding of video playback fundamentals.

Benefits include extensive learning opportunities, flexible share incentives, generous parental leave, and an employee assistance program.

Qualifications

• Strong experience building low-level systems in C++, ideally in media domains.
• Hands-on experience with native playback frameworks.
• Deep understanding of video playback fundamentals including codecs and adaptive bitrate.

Responsibilities

• Design and build the C++ integration layer for audio and video playback.
• Debug complex performance and reliability issues in playback.
• Collaborate with platform teams to ensure shared APIs work effectively.

Skills

C++ programming

Experience with video playback systems

Understanding of A/V synchronization

Debugging performance issues

Tools

Rust runtime

AVPlayer

ExoPlayer

Job description

We design Spotify’s consumer experience—end to end, moment to moment, across every screen, platform, and partner integration. Our mission is to make listening feel effortless, personal, and joyful for billions of users around the world. That means turning complexity into clarity across hundreds of touchpoints—from our mobile and desktop apps to the smart speakers, TVs, cars, and integrations where Spotify shows up every day. If it touches a consumer, we shape it. We bring deep insight into human behavior, design, and technology to craft experiences that feel intuitive, expressive, and unmistakably Spotify.

At Spotify, we’re building the best way to experience audio and video — everywhere, every time. As listening and watching on TV continues to grow, we’re investing deeply in native, video-first playback experiences that are fast, reliable, and feel effortless.

The Native Playback team sits at the heart of Spotify’s TV strategy. We integrate Spotify’s playback experience with the native players and media frameworks available on each platform. Our work happens close to the system — where performance, reliability, and quality truly matter — and directly impacts how millions of people experience Spotify every day.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and evolve the C++ integration layer that powers Spotify’s audio and video playback on TV devices running our new Rust runtime
• Integrate Spotify’s playback experience with platform-native media frameworks such as AVPlayer, ExoPlayer, or equivalent TV player stacks
• Own critical playback areas including buffering strategies, playback state handling, A/V synchronization, adaptive bitrate configuration, track selection, and rendering paths
• Debug complex performance and reliability issues across multiple layers — from application logic to OS-level frameworks and hardware acceleration
• Partner closely with Playback platform teams and device teams to ensure shared APIs and designs translate cleanly into real-world TV implementations
• Improve test coverage, tooling, and observability to detect regressions and speed up iteration cycles
• Contribute to thoughtful technical design discussions and raise the bar for playback quality through code reviews and knowledge sharing

Who You Are

• You have strong of experience building low-level systems in C++, ideally within video, media, or playback domains
• You have hands‑on experience integrating native playback frameworks such as AVPlayer, ExoPlayer, vendor SDKs, or similar media stacks
• You have a deep understanding of video playback fundamentals including codecs, streaming formats, adaptive bitrate (ABR), buffering behavior, and A/V synchronization trade‑offs
• You are comfortable working close to the OS and media framework layer and diagnosing issues that span multiple system boundaries
• You have experience contributing to the design and evolution of scalable technical systems across platforms
• You are confident debugging performance and reliability issues using logs, traces, profilers, and system diagnostics tools
• You collaborate effectively across teams and communicate technical trade‑offs clearly
• You care deeply about delivering reliable, high‑quality playback experiences for millions of users

Where You’ll Be

• This role is based in London or Stockholm.
• We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best. While some in‑person collaboration is expected, you’ll also have the option to work from home.

Extensive learning opportunities, through our dedicated team, GreenHouse.

Flexible share incentives letting you choose how you share in our success.

Global parental leave, six months off - for all new parents.

All The Feels, our employee assistance program and self-care hub.

Flexible public holidays, swap days off according to your values and beliefs.