Backend Engineer - Video Intelligence

Description

Wowza powers the world's leading live and on-demand streaming experiences. From global events and enterprise broadcasts to AI-powered video intelligence at the edge, Wowza provides the most trusted, extensible, and developer-friendly streaming platform on the market.

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 Role

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

What You Bring

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 & Perks

• 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