Staff Backend Engineer - Streaming

Verkada; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

Verkada is seeking a backend engineer to join the Streaming team, powering live and recorded video for millions of devices. You’ll design scalable cloud-native services, build real-time data pipelines, and deliver high-performance transcoding and APIs.

You’ll collaborate across product, hardware, and infrastructure, focusing on performance, reliability, and security, with opportunities to work on IoT streaming technologies and multimedia formats. Visa sponsorship is available.

Qualifications

• 4+ years backend development in Go or Python.
• 4+ years designing and building large-scale distributed systems.
• 3+ years cloud infrastructure, containerization, and deployment automation (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes).
• 3+ years databases, queues, blob storage, and distributed systems fundamentals.
• Systems design mindset; able to simplify complex workflows and deliver scalable solutions.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve highly scalable, cloud-native services that power video and audio streaming for millions of devices.
• Architect and optimize distributed, real-time data pipelines that connect cameras, the cloud, and end users with low latency and high reliability.
• Build and operate a high-performance video transcoding and multiplexing service that is fault-tolerant and scalable.
• Define and refine service-oriented architectures, APIs, and interfaces for streaming across the platform.
• Develop clean, reliable backend code that performs under heavy load and ensures a flawless customer experience.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, hardware, and infrastructure teams to deliver new video capabilities.
• Champion engineering excellence by driving performance, reliability, and best practices.

Skills

Go

Python

Distributed systems design

Systems design mindset

Performance and reliability

Ownership in fast-paced environment

IoT/Streaming or multimedia

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

FFmpeg

Job description

Who We Are

Verkada is transforming how organizations protect their people and places with an integrated, privacy-sensitive AI-powered platform that includes solutions for video security, access control, air quality sensors, alarms, intercoms, and visitor management. We’ve got serious momentum in the market: more than 30,000 customers (including 100+ of the Fortune 500), a $5.8B valuation, more than $1 billion in annualized bookings, and backing from CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures, Next47 and more. Physical AI is one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time, and Verkada is at the center of it. Today, more than 2 million Verkada devices are deployed across 170+ countries.

About The Role

The Streaming team owns the full-stack infrastructure powering the video experience for over 1.4M Verkada cameras. We take on complex streaming challenges to deliver live and recorded video with unmatched speed, reliability, and security. By continually advancing our technology, we ensure that every frame—whether live or months old—is always available instantly, seamlessly, and securely.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve highly scalable, cloud-native services that power video and audio streaming for millions of devices.
• Architect and optimize distributed, real-time data pipelines that connect cameras, the cloud, and end users with low latency and high reliability.
• Build and operate a high-performance video transcoding and multiplexing service that is fault-tolerant, cost-efficient, and capable of scaling to massive workloads.
• Define and refine service-oriented architectures, APIs, and interfaces that enable streaming to scale seamlessly across our platform.
• Develop clean, reliable, and testable backend code that performs under heavy load and ensures a flawless customer experience.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, hardware, and infrastructure teams to deliver new video capabilities and experiences that raise the bar for the industry.
• Champion engineering excellence by driving performance, reliability, and best practices across the organization.

About You

• 4+ years of backend development experience in Go or Python.
• 4+ years experience designing and building large-scale, resilient distributed systems using service-oriented or microservice architectures.
• 3+ years experience with cloud infrastructure, containerization, and deployment automation (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, or similar).
• 3+ years experience with databases, queues, blob storage, and distributed systems fundamentals.
• You bring a systems design mindset, able to simplify complex workflows and deliver scalable, efficient solutions.
• You care deeply about performance, reliability, and security, and have a track record of building services that excel in all three.
• You thrive in a fast-paced environment, demonstrate creativity and sound judgment, and take ownership of problems end to end.
• Bonus: you’ve worked with IoT devices, real-time streaming technologies, or multimedia formats such as H.264/H.265, FFmpeg, or similar pipelines.

Why Join Us

• Build the video streaming backbone of one of the fastest-growing companies in physical security.
• Tackle some of the most challenging and rewarding problems at the intersection of distributed systems, real-time data, and multimedia.
• Collaborate with top-tier engineers and see your work make an immediate impact on products trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide.
• Join a company with proven product–market fit—enjoy the speed, ownership, and impact of a startup, with the stability of a healthy, scaling business.
• Grow a career at a place that values innovation, technical excellence, and end-to-end ownership.
• We support global talent: Verkada sponsors employment visas and can assume existing sponsorships. If you receive an offer, we’ll make every reasonable effort to secure the visa.

Annual Pay Range

Estimated Annual Pay Range: $130,000—$280,000 USD. A Verkada employee may be eligible for additional forms of compensation, including sales incentives, discretionary bonuses, and/or equity in the company in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs).

Verkada Is An Equal Opportunity Employer

As an equal opportunity employer, Verkada is committed to providing employment opportunities to all individuals. All applicants for positions at Verkada will be treated without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. Your application will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.