Software Development Engineer, Streaming Media

TikTok Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 162,000 - 317,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok Inc. in San Jose seeks a software engineer to design and optimize real-time media servers and streaming protocols for the live platform. You will work on high-performance, latency-sensitive systems serving billions of users worldwide.

Applicants should have a Bachelor’s degree in CS or engineering and hands-on experience with RTP/RTCP, RTMP, DASH, CMAF, and codecs like OPUS, AAC, and H.264. Strong networking and programming skills in C/C++/Java/Python/Rust/Go are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, or related field.
• Experience with streaming transport protocols RTP/RTCP, RTMP, DASH, CMAF.
• Familiarity with OPUS, AAC, and H.264 codecs.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, NAT, IPv4/IPv6, routing, and packet processing.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-performance, latency-sensitive media servers.
• Optimize network efficiency for media delivery, balancing cost and quality.
• Design, implement, and optimize media protocols; stay current with industry trends.
• Leverage AI technologies to enhance streaming media scenarios and performance.
• Design and build resilient, decoupled systems to minimize single points of failure and improve reliability.

Skills

RTP/RTCP

RTMP

DASH

CMAF

OPUS/AAC codecs

Networking fundamentals

Programming: C/C++/Java/Python/Rust/Go

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Job description

Responsibilities

About the Team: The Media Network team is building an industry-leading real-time media distributed system that plays a critical role in TikTok's live streaming and RTC scenarios. Serving billions of users worldwide, our network is among the largest real-time media networks globally. Join the Media Network team to work on large-scale distributed systems and help deliver an exceptional real-time media experience to TikTok users.

• Design and implement high-performance, latency-sensitive media servers.
• Optimize network efficiency for media delivery, balancing cost and quality.
• Design, implement, and optimize media protocols, while staying current with industry trends.
• Leverage AI technologies to enhance streaming media scenarios and improve the flexibility and performance of the Media Network.
• Design and build resilient, decoupled systems to minimize single points of failure and improve overall reliability.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience with streaming transport protocols such as RTP/RTCP, RTMP, DASH, and CMAF.
• Familiarity with audio and video codec standards, including OPUS, AAC, and H.264.
• Solid understanding of networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, NAT, IPv4/IPv6, routing protocols, and packet processing (e.g., iptables, deep packet inspection).
• Proficiency in at least one programming language: C, C++, Java, Python, Rust, or Go.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CDN, multimedia systems, live streaming, or WebRTC.
• Experience building or operating large-scale distributed systems.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $162000 - $316800 annually.

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:

1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.