Live Media Encoding Site Reliability Engineer

$150,000 - $225,500/Yr

Apple - Irvine, CA

Full-time - Mid Level

Irvine, CA

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing

About the position

The Live Media Encoding Site Reliability Engineer at Apple is responsible for the technical operation and management of live hardware and software media encoding infrastructure. This role involves ensuring high-quality encoding support for media productions, particularly during live events, and requires a blend of hardware and software engineering expertise. The engineer will work closely with production teams to maintain 24/7 uptime and solve complex technical challenges in real-time, contributing to the innovative media production capabilities of Apple.

Responsibilities

• Manage and operate live HW/SW media encoding infrastructure in event-site mobile data centers and operations centers.
• Ensure the media encoding systems exceed quality standards and performance benchmarks.
• Conduct pre-event quality control and performance benchmarking of encoding software and hardware.
• Provide technical support and operational expertise during live events.
• Collaborate with media encode and processing software development teams to enhance production hardware services.
• Solve complex technical challenges in real-time during productions.
• Keep up with the latest compute technology to improve workflows and systems.

Requirements

• 5 years of experience in maintaining and operating media encoding and transmission pipelines for live events.
• Hardware engineering experience with high bandwidth NICs, CPU, GPU clusters, and supporting software development knowledge.
• Hands-on operational experience with media streaming protocols such as RIST, SRT, Zixi, and AAC.
• Experience in live broadcast environments and operational workflows for high-profile productions.
• Strong problem-solving skills under time constraints and resource limitations.
• Ability to work in international, metropolitan locations as key technical production staff.

Nice-to-haves

• Expertise in Encoder software/hardware development.
• Experience in building or maintaining compute infrastructure.
• Expertise in Linux and CLI environments for system management.
• Familiarity with SMPTE 2110 IP audio and video workflows.
• Experience in remote integration based production environments.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• Retirement benefits
• Discounted products and free services
• Reimbursement for certain educational expenses including tuition
• Discretionary bonuses or commission payments
• Relocation assistance