Senior Software Engineer – Applied AI & Streaming

PlayStation; Aliso Viejo (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 266,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top-tier benefits package

Bonus eligibility

Employee discounts on Sony products

Job summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for Applied AI & Streaming in Aliso Viejo, CA. Build AI-powered capabilities for real-time cloud gaming and streaming, shaping agents and inference-backed systems within our real-time platform.

You will extend our C++ stack, optimize latency and cost, and collaborate with streaming, platform, and cloud partners. Strong production C++ experience and AI production work are essential.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• Senior-level software engineering with end-to-end ownership of complex systems.
• Strong C++ skills from production codebases.
• Hands-on experience building AI-powered features in production.
• Understanding of turning models into products including prompt design and tool orchestration.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and ship AI-powered capabilities across the streaming platform and player experience.
• Apply inference and agents to real-time performance, engagement, personalization, and accessibility.
• Work on the streaming stack and codebase with a focus on latency and cost.

Skills

C++ production code

AI-powered features

Latency sensitivity

Ambiguity handling

AI-native workflows

Ownership & accountability

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Linux

Windows

Job description

Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the company behind the PlayStation brand. As a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, we’re part of a proud legacy of innovation and excellence. SIE is a dynamic technology company, delivering cutting‑edge hardware and network services to more than 100 million people and an entertainment leader, home to some of the most beloved and recognizable intellectual properties (IP) in the world. Our role at SIE is to create and nurture the experiences under the PlayStation brand, a name synonymous with entertainment excellence and creativity.

Senior Software Engineer – Applied AI & Streaming

Aliso Viejo, CA

The vision

We think AI will change what cloud gaming can be. It can make streamed play faster, more personal, and more accessible, and in some ways better than playing locally. As a Senior Software Engineer on our team, you’ll build agents and inference‑backed systems into a real‑time streaming platform and ship them to players. You’ll work where AI meets performance‑sensitive systems, and a lot of the problems here are still being defined.

What you’ll do

• Design, prototype, and ship AI‑powered capabilities across our streaming platform and player experience.
• Apply inference and agents to real‑time performance, player engagement, personalization, and accessibility.
• Use AI to understand, optimize, and evolve large existing codebases, including our streaming stack.
• Build and extend our platform in C++, and help shape the technologies and architecture we use next.
• Build what production AI needs: evaluation, telemetry, guardrails, fallbacks, and attention to latency and cost.
• Turn ambiguous ideas into demos and experiments, measure what works, and harden it for production.
• Work AI‑native every day, using coding agents, automation, and rapid exploration, and help the team do the same.
• Work with a small, focused engineering team and with partners across streaming, platform, and cloud.

You’re a great fit if you have

• A BS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Senior‑level software engineering experience with a track record of owning complex systems end to end.
• Strong C++ skills from professional work in production codebases.
• Hands‑on experience building and deploying agents or AI‑powered features in production. You’ve worked through evals, regressions, latency, cost, and the ways these systems fail.
• A strong grasp of how to turn models into products, including context and prompt design, tool use and orchestration, memory and retrieval, model selection, and where inference should run.
• Fluency with AI‑native engineering workflows.
• Product judgment. You can tell when AI makes an experience better and when it’s a gimmick.
• The ability to work in ambiguity, move quickly, and keep momentum as priorities change.
• Clear communication, strong ownership, and a habit of making the people around you better.

Bonus XP

• Python, Rust, or other languages used to build and serve AI systems.
• Low‑latency or on‑device inference, model optimization, or GPU experience.
• Real‑time media, game streaming, graphics, or video experience.
• Cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or production platform experience.
• Experience building conversational or agentic experiences for games or interactive products.
• Linux or Windows systems experience.
• Japanese language or cross‑cultural collaboration experience.
• You enjoy playing video games.

Why join us

• Work on AI problems most engineers never get to. In real‑time systems, every millisecond counts, and so does every inference call.
• Help set the direction. Our AI strategy is still taking shape, and you’ll help decide what we build, not just how.
• Get real ownership. You’ll join a small, senior team where ideas go from prototype to production quickly.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job‑related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top‑tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$177,300 — $265,900 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.