Senior Staff Software Engineer, Video Playback, YouTube

Google; San Bruno (CA); On-site; USD 262,000 - 364,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus target

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Google is looking for a Senior Staff Software Engineer for Mobile Video Playback in the San Bruno area. You will guide the mobile player stack across YouTube products, from high-level APIs to device-accelerated rendering, ensuring efficient playback of VOD, live, and encrypted content.

You will lead a team to push codecs and formats (AV1/2, Spatial Audio), collaborate with Android and internal groups, and explore GenAI and on-device hardware acceleration to deliver scalable video experiences.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• 10 years of experience in software engineering.
• 3 years of experience in mobile engineering or mobile media (codecs/graphics).
• Experience as a tech lead, mentor, or go-to expert for a team.
• Experience with video, music, or media-related products.
• Experience designing, building, and operating large-scale systems.
• Excellent communication skills to explain technical concepts.

Responsibilities

• Lead client media innovation to bring next-generation codecs and formats (e.g., AV1/2, Spatial Audio) to users.
• Evolve the mobile player architecture and platform to deliver the best playback experience across YouTube products and video formats.
• Drive deep investigative work to unlock performance at scale.
• Foster partnerships with internal teams and industry partners.
• Embrace and experiment with emerging technologies such as GenAI.

Skills

Mobile engineering

Video codecs

Graphics

Leadership

C/C++

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Android

Hardware acceleration APIs

Job description

In most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• 10 years of experience in software engineering.
• 3 years of experience in mobile engineering (e.g., iOS or Android) or mobile media experience (e.g., codecs or graphics).

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience as a tech lead, a formal mentor, or a go-to expert for a team.
• Experience working with video, music, or other media-related products.
• Experience in designing, building, and operating systems at large-scale.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate technical concepts to audiences.

About The Job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

With your technical expertise you will manage project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables. You will design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and enhance software solutions.

The YouTube Playback Experience team is responsible for video playback on all screens and critical to enable this core user journey.

In the role of Senior Staff Software Engineer for Mobile Video Playback, you will guide the team in advancing the entire player stack, from high-level APIs to leveraging hardware features. Your leadership will ensure performant and engaging experiences for both established formats like VOD, live, and DRM and emerging areas such as generative AI, multi-modal feeds, and vertical video. Additionally, you will drive client media innovation by utilizing on-device hardware like NPUs, GPUs, and codecs to introduce next-generation media formats and capabilities.

At YouTube, we believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share, and build community through our stories. We work together to give everyone the power to share their story, explore what they love, and connect with one another in the process. Working at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and boundless creativity, we move at the speed of culture with a shared goal to show people the world. We explore new ideas, solve real problems, and have fun and we do it all together.Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $262000 - $364000 (USD) + 25% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google .

Responsibilities

• Lead client media innovation to bring next-generation codecs and formats (e.g., AV1/2, Spatial Audio) to users. Enable innovative video experiences by leveraging on-device GPU and NPU for advanced rendering effects while contributing to the advancement of networking and crypto stacks.
• Evolve the mobile player architecture and platform to deliver the best playback experience across all YouTube products (Main, Music, Kids, YTV) and video formats (VOD, shorts, live, encrypted content).
• Drive deep investigative work to unlock performance at scale.
• Foster strong partnerships and technical collaboration with internal teams (YouTube Apps, Infrastructure, AOM, Android, Pixel) and industry partners (OEMs, SOCs, network operators, technical standards bodies).
• Embrace and experiment with emerging technologies such as GenAI.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form .