Principal Engineer Streaming

THE ROLE

As Principal Engineer Streaming & Ad Technologies, you'll architect the technical vision behind platforms reaching millions of viewers worldwide, designing scalable systems that seamlessly blend cutting-edge streaming infrastructure with sophisticated advertising technologies. This role puts you at the intersection of two rapidly evolving domains—where milliseconds matter for user experience and revenue hang on your architectural decisions.

You'll tackle fascinating challenges from building low latency streaming pipelines to creating intelligent ad insertion systems, working with technologies at scale including CDN optimization, adaptive bitrate streaming, and machine learning models that optimize viewer engagement and advertiser ROI in real-time. If you're passionate about solving complex distributed systems problems and want to influence how users and advertisers discover and interact with content, this is your opportunity to shape the future of digital entertainment.

THE PRINCIPAL ENGINEERING TEAM

Our Principal Engineering team is the technical backbone of innovation at Zattoo—a dynamic collective of senior technical leaders who shape the future of our platform. Each Principal Engineer brings deep expertise in their specialized domain, from streaming infrastructure and mobile platforms to data engineering and security, while collaborating seamlessly across the organization to drive technical excellence and strategic innovation. We don't just solve today's problems—we architect tomorrow's solutions, bridging the gap between emerging technologies and business objectives to ensure every technical decision supports long-term growth and scalability.

Beyond individual contributions, we're multipliers who elevate engineering standards across the organization through mentorship and cross-functional collaboration. We collectively define the technical roadmap, proactively manage risks, foster knowledge sharing across teams, and help to transform bold ideas into production-ready solutions that keep Zattoo at the forefront of streaming technology. The Principal Engineering team strives to converge individual expertise  into extraordinary technical outcomes.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Drive Technical Strategy & Innovation in your domain
• Mentor & Develop Engineering Talent
• Contribute to our advanced Ad Technology Platform
• Architect & Lead Streaming Infrastructure
• Ensure Operational Excellence 
• Lead Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Build Knowledge Sharing Culture
• Optimize Performance & Scale
• Translate Business into Technology

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• 8+ years of experience in building large-scale distributed systems with profound expertise in C++ and Golang for high-performance backend services
• C++ experience for performance-critical video processing components and low-level optimization
• Deep understanding of streaming protocols (HLS, DASH) and video technologies including transcoding, adaptive bitrate streaming, and content delivery networks
• Extensive experience with advertising technology platforms, ad serving, and dynamic ad insertion (DAI/SSAI)
• Proven track record of architecting and implementing systems that handle massive amount of concurrent users and high-throughput video streaming
• Expert-level knowledge of both relational and non-relational databases (PostgreSQL, Scylla, Elasticsearch) with experience in data modeling for streaming and advertising use cases
• Strong DevOps expertise with cloud platforms and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with event-driven architectures, message queuing systems (like Kafka), and microservices design patterns
• Deep understanding of CDN technologies, edge computing, and global content distribution strategies
• Strong leadership skills with experience mentoring senior engineers and driving technical decisions across multiple teams
• Fluent verbal and written English language skills with excellent communication abilities

Bonus:

• MS/PhD degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline
• Experience with machine learning applications in content recommendation and ad targeting
• Knowledge of video codec technologies (H.264, H.265) and emerging streaming standards
• Experience with programmatic advertising and real-time bidding (RTB)
• Contributions to open-source streaming or advertising technology projects
• Experience with A/B testing frameworks and data-driven product optimization
• Understanding of digital rights management (DRM) and content protection technologies
• Experience building scalable systems in Python

WHY JOIN US? 

At Zattoo, you're always on firm ground with real freedom to explore. You'll have the support and opportunity you need to go far, while you're helping us create a sustainable and entertainment-filled future for all.

WHAT WE OFFER YOU

• Reward: strong market competitive salary
• Recharge: 30 days vacation plus public holidays
• Regulate:trust based flexible working hours and the option for remote work worldwide for up to 8 weeks per year

Plus:

• We're sharing: Free access to the best streaming experience on the market
• We're developing: Your own development budget, German classes and Zattoo all-company hack days
• We're inclusive: 'Zattooies' are a fun, engaged, and diverse team made up of 47 nationalities
• We're healthy: Health checks, team sports, organic fruit, vegan options and more
• We're responsible: We are carbon neutral, an active employee Green team, discounted BVG tickets and free bike rentals
• We're sociable: A calendar of events with fireside chats, lunches, in-house bar, BBQ's, monthly socials, summer party and an annual off-site event