Principal Software Engineer

Who We Are :

When we say, the stuff dreams are made of, were not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth.

Behind WBDs vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating whats next.

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves.

Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

Principal Engineer Player Team, Bangalore.

About Warner Bros. Discovery :

Warner Bros. Discovery, a premier global media and entertainment company, offers audiences the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content, brands and franchises across television, film, streaming and gaming.

The new company combines Warner Medias premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery's leading non-fiction and international entertainment and sports businesses.

Meet Our Team :

We are the Product Engineering group for Direct-2-Consumer business, and responsible for building OTT Player (HLS and DASH) for several Warner Bros Discovery products across 70+ different platforms.

We build Player SDK for Android, Apple, Desktop, HWA and STB platforms to provide seamless integration experience to the WBD applications.

About the Role :

We are looking for a Principal Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development of the core player engine and SDKs powering our OTT streaming applications across various platforms (iOS, Android, Web, Roku, CTV, STBs, etc.

This is a critical technical leadership role driving performance, scalability, and quality of video playback across millions of devices.

Key Responsibilities :

- Architect and develop core media playback engines and SDKs for video streaming applications.

- Drive end-to-end design of low-latency, high-performance video playback pipelines, including adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), DRM, buffering, caching, and analytics.

- Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product, Video Platform, QA, CDN, Content Ops) to define requirements and translate them into scalable technical solutions.

- Ensure high-quality playback experience across various network conditions and device capabilities.

- Define and enforce coding standards, performance benchmarks, and SDK versioning strategies.

- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical roadmaps, design reviews, and code quality initiatives.

- Investigate and resolve complex issues related to playback failures, latency, memory usage, and system stability.

- Monitor industry trends in streaming protocols (HLS, DASH), media formats, and hardware acceleration APIs (MediaCodec, AVFoundation, etc.) to keep our technology stack modern.

Required Skills & Qualifications :

- Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.

- 16+ years of experience in software engineering with 10+ years of hands-on development in media playback engines or OTT video streaming SDKs.

- Expertise in video streaming protocols : HLS, MPEG-DASH, CMAF, RTMP, etc.

- Strong proficiency in C/C++, JavaScript, Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Bright Script.

- Deep understanding of DRM technologies (Widevine, FairPlay, PlayReady).

- Experience with media frameworks: ExoPlayer, AVPlayer, Shaka Player, or custom engines.

- Experience with live streaming (low latency, DVR).

- Familiarity with CDNs, video encoding pipelines, and ABR algorithms.

- Proven experience with multi-platform development (mobile, web, smart TVs, gaming consoles).

- Understanding of CI/CD, A/B testing, and observability in production environments.

- Excellent problem-solving, debugging, and performance tuning skills.

- Strong communication and leadership skills; ability to influence and drive cross-team decisions.

Nice to Have :

- Exposure to WebAssembly, Rust, or cross-platform player architectures.

- Contributions to open-source media player projects or streaming SDKs.

Characteristics & Traits :

- Naturally inquisitive, critical thinker, proactive problem-solver, and detail-oriented.

- Positive attitude and an open mind.

- Strong organizational skills with the ability to act independently and responsibly.

- Self-starter, comfortable initiating projects from design to execution with minimal supervision.

- Ability to manage and balance multiple (and sometimes competing) priorities in a fast-paced, complex business environment and can manage time effectively to consistently meet deadlines.

- Team player and relationship builder.

What We Offer :

- A Great Place to work.

- Equal opportunity employer.

- Fast track growth opportunities.

How We Get Things Done :

This last bit is probably the most important Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done.

We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.