Senior iOS Engineer (Video Player)

Kake; Tempe (AZ); Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Pay in USD

Fully Remote

Better Me Fund

Community that invests in social good

Job summary

A remote-first tech company is looking for a Senior iOS Engineer specializing in video playback to optimize advanced features across Apple platforms. Candidates should have over 8 years of iOS development experience, particularly with HLS and AVPlayer. You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance performance for a seamless user experience. This role also involves troubleshooting playback function and integrating third-party SDKs. Join a culture that emphasizes personal growth and social responsibility in a global community.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of iOS development experience.
• Proven experience with video players or playback components for iOS/tvOS.
• Strong hands-on experience with HLS and AVPlayer.
• Demonstrated ability to debug and optimize performance, including rebuffering, memory usage, and startup time.
• Familiarity with video streaming protocols, ABR logic, and DRM integration.
• Strong understanding of iOS architectures (MVVM, Clean Architecture) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across engineering, design, and product teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize video player components for iOS and tvOS applications.
• Troubleshoot performance issues across devices.
• Implement and fine-tune HLS playback.
• Collaborate with engineering, backend, and product teams to enhance playback quality, scalability, and maintainability.
• Integrate and manage third‑party SDKs (analytics, DRM, ad tech, or QoE monitoring).
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, performance monitoring, and release processes.
• Stay up‑to‑date with emerging video streaming technologies and best practices for playback optimization.

Skills

Swift

Objective-C

HLS tuning

AVPlayer optimization

Debugging performance

Collaboration skills

CI/CD pipelines

Performance optimization

Debugging

Collaboration

Job description

Join to apply for the Senior iOS Engineer (Video Player) role at Kake

About the Role

We’re looking for a Senior iOS Video Player Engineer with deep hands‑on experience in video playback to design, build, and optimize advanced video player features across Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone platforms.

This role is highly technical and collaborative — you’ll work with backend, product, and video infrastructure teams to deliver best‑in‑class playback performance for millions of viewers. You’ll be responsible for building and troubleshooting video player functionality, improving playback performance, and ensuring a seamless user experience across devices.

If you love solving complex playback challenges — things like HLS tuning, rebuffering, startup performance, and AVPlayer optimization — this role is for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize video player components for iOS and tvOS applications (Apple TV, iPad, iPhone).
• Troubleshoot and resolve performance issues, rebuffering events, and playback stability across devices.
• Implement and fine‑tune HLS playback using AVPlayer and related Apple media frameworks.
• Collaborate with engineering, backend, and product teams to enhance playback quality, scalability, and maintainability.
• Integrate and manage third‑party SDKs (analytics, DRM, ad tech, or QoE monitoring).
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, performance monitoring, and release processes.
• Stay up‑to‑date with emerging video streaming technologies and best practices for playback optimization.

Core Requirements

• 8+ years of iOS development experience with deep expertise in Swift and Objective‑C.
• Proven experience building and maintaining video players or playback components for iOS/tvOS.
• Strong hands‑on experience with HLS and AVPlayer, including tuning and troubleshooting playback behavior.
• Demonstrated ability to debug and optimize performance, including rebuffering, memory usage, and playback start time.
• Familiarity with video streaming protocols, ABR logic, and DRM integration.
• Strong understanding of iOS app architectures (MVVM, Clean Architecture) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across engineering, design, and product teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with video QoE analytics platforms (e.g., Mux, Conviva, Youbora).
• Background in OTT or streaming media applications.
• Familiarity with Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and tvOS design patterns.
• Experience integrating ad tech or analytics SDKs into media players.

Why Join Kake

Kake is a remote‑first company with a global community — built on the belief that it’s not where your table is, but what you bring to the table that matters. We provide top‑tier engineering talent to power some of the world’s most innovative companies, and we’ve built a culture where great people stay, grow, and thrive.

The icing on the Kake

• 💵 Competitive Pay in USD – Work globally, get paid globally.
• 🏡 Fully Remote – Simply put, we trust you.
• 🌱 Better Me Fund – We invest in your personal growth and passions.
• ❤️ Compassion is Badass – Join a community that invests in social good.