[Hiring] Backend Engineer - Video Intelligence @Wowza Media Systems

Role Description

We are seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to join our AI-powered video intelligence team. You should have strong experience in Python backend development and building real-time, performance-critical applications, with a passion for learning new domains. While video streaming and AI/ML experience are bonuses, we're looking for someone eager to dive into the intersection of video technology and artificial intelligence. This role requires solid Python programming skills, experience with asynchronous systems, and the ability to work on high-throughput applications that process video streams at scale.

The Senior Backend Engineer will design and develop scalable real-time video analysis services using modern Python frameworks. This role operates at the intersection of backend engineering, AI integration, and high-performance computing, building systems that process thousands of video frames per second with computer vision models.

What You'll Do

• Design and develop scalable real-time video analysis services using FastAPI and WebSocket protocols
• Build and maintain high-performance AI inference pipelines that process thousands of video frames per second
• Optimize GPU utilization, model sharing, and resource allocation across concurrent video streams
• Evaluate and integrate computer vision models (object detection, scene classification, VLMs) into production services
• Implement fair scheduling algorithms and multi-device inference coordination
• Monitor and optimize production systems for memory efficiency, inference latency, and throughput
• Work with product management to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Learn and contribute to video processing and AI/ML technologies as part of your role growth

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in commercial software engineering
• 5+ years of backend development experience with Python, particularly modern async frameworks (FastAPI, asyncio)
• Strong understanding of concurrent programming, async/await patterns, and event-driven architectures
• Experience with real-time systems, WebSocket protocols, and binary data streaming
• Knowledge of performance optimization including profiling, memory management, and bottleneck analysis
• Strong understanding of distributed systems concepts: load balancing, resource pooling, fair scheduling
• Experience with REST APIs, protocol design, and client-server architectures
• Solid debugging skills for complex multi-threaded/async systems
• Strong motivation to learn new technologies and domains, particularly video processing and AI/ML integration
• Good communication skills and ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment
• Commitment to code quality: type annotations, testing, documentation, and maintainability

Strong Plus

• Experience with video processing, streaming protocols (RTMP, WebRTC, HLS), or media frameworks (FFmpeg, OpenCV)
• Knowledge of computer vision, object detection, or ML model inference in production
• Experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, or other ML frameworks for model integration (not ML research)
• Familiarity with ML inference optimization
• Understanding of video codecs, frame encoding/decoding, and media transport protocols
• Experience with object tracking algorithms or real-time video analytics
• Background in high-throughput data processing or stream processing systems
• Knowledge of Wowza Streaming Engine or similar media server platforms

Tech Stack

• Languages: Python (modern type hints, async/await)
• Frameworks: FastAPI
• AI/ML: PyTorch, TensorRT, OpenCV, Hugging Face, computer vision models
• Infrastructure: Docker, Github Actions
• Protocols: WebSocket, binary streaming, custom protocols
• Tools: Git, pytest, mypy, black, rye (Python packaging)

Benefits

• Paid Time Off
• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (effective Day 1)
• 401(k) with strong company match
• Dependent Care FSA
• Employer-paid Life Insurance and AD&D
• Paid Parental Leave