Senior iOS Video Player Engineer (Remote)

About the role

Kake is a remote-first company of senior engineers behind products for brands ranging from Fortune 500 to fast-growing companies. It is looking for Senior iOS Video Player Engineers with deep, production-level experience in live video streaming, able to deliver high-quality playback on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. The role suits people who enjoy owning playback reliability end-to-end in a mature, high-scale streaming ecosystem.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain live video playback functionality for iOS and tvOS applications.
• Optimise HLS playback using AVPlayer, focusing on startup time, buffering, latency and playback stability.
• Troubleshoot complex playback issues such as errors, stalls and drift from the live edge.
• Tune playback performance at scale and use video analytics and QoE metrics to diagnose and improve real-world playback.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and contribute to best practices and continuous improvement.

Required profile

• 6+ years of iOS development with deep expertise in Swift and Objective-C.
• Proven experience building and maintaining video players and live playback components for iOS/tvOS.
• Strong hands-on experience with HLS and AVPlayer, including tuning and troubleshooting live streaming playback.
• Demonstrated ability to debug and optimise playback performance, including rebuffering, startup time and stability.
• Familiarity with streaming protocols, live playback concepts (latency, live edge, drift), ABR logic and DRM integration.
• Experience using video analytics or QoE metrics (e.g. Mux, Conviva).
• Excellent English communication and ability to work independently in a remote, fast-paced environment.
• Nice to have: background in large-scale sports live streaming, ad tech experience, and flexibility to overlap 6-7 hours daily with US time zones (PST).

What we offer

• Competitive pay in USD, paid globally.
• Fully remote work.
• A Better Me Fund investing in personal growth and passions.
• A community that supports social good.