Java Software Engineer, Distribution

OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility – and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide.

Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Intro to Position

The Distribution Division is seeking an experienced and talented Java Software Engineer to join the team responsible for developing and maintaining our platform and tools critical for distributing live and pre-recorded public media content to radio stations across the US and beyond.

You will work daily with a cross-functional team combining business, design, product, user experience, and engineering expertise. Together, you will relentlessly push the boundaries of what’s possible, paving the road for the future of public radio content distribution.

In this role, you will collaborate with UI Designers, engineers, and QA professionals to build, debug, and deploy software solutions for content distribution and Network Operation Center (NOC) support. The software you build will be utilized by public media producers, stations, and NOCs nationwide.

The ideal candidate is self-organized, detail-oriented, and passionate about modern development tools. You will partner closely with the development team, follow best practices, and report directly to the Senior Manager of Software Development. We are looking for an engineer who is enthusiastic about building solutions that serve the public radio mission

Responsibilities

• Responsible for design, development and maintenance of our Content Distribution System. Work closely with the Product Owner and peers from the development team.

• Follow software development procedures and report directly to the Sr. Manager of Software Development.

• Write, edit, and debug software in Java.

• Respond promptly and professionally to bugs reported by QA.

• Ability to conduct system analysis independently to keep our systems current with changing technologies.

• Analyze system specifications and break down requirements to well defined development tasks.

• Test new code thoroughly to ensure logic is correct, and that program results are accurate

• Document code consistently throughout the development process.

• Provide assistance to testers and support personnel as needed to determine system problems.

• Participate in code deployments to QA and production systems.

• Identify and respond appropriately to production problems.

• Join the developer “on-call” rotation after approximately 3 months.

• Participate in disaster recovery site readiness and testing

• Participate in daily stand-ups and other scrum activities (e.g. backlog grooming, planning, demos and retrospectives).

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications

• Three to five years experience with building and consuming API’s as well as familiarity with various programming languages and frameworks.

• Very comfortable using standard software development tools such as IDE’s, Open Source Java/C development frameworks, profilers, SQL explorer, and issue/bug tracking tools.

• Experience with designing and building tiered software systems using a major relational database.

• Experience with Agile / Scrum software development practices.

• Fluent in Java.

• Fluent in relational databases, such as PosgreSQL.

• Experience in front-end web application development.

• Experience working with a version control system (Git preferred).

• Experience with unit testing, CI/CD pipelines, and production system deployment.

• Experience working in Linux/Unix platform

• Experience with Spring application framework

• Excellent problem solving, analysis and troubleshooting skills

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work under tight deadlines

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Vaadin UI framework.

• Familiarity with orchestration and automated workflows with tools like Nomad and Consul

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Teamcity or equivalent)

• Knowledge of C, C++

• Knowledge Audio over IP systems (e.g. AES67, Livewire, WheatNet, etc)

• Experience with real-time audio processing and low-latency systems

• Knowledge of various network protocols including SRT, RIST, RTP, UDP

• Knowledge of various codecs/formats including MP2, MP3, MPEG-TS, FLAC, Opus, Ogg, AAC

• Experience with audio tools/libraries ffmpeg, libav, gstreamer, ALSA, etc

• Experience with Docker/containers, and major cloud platforms

Work Location & Requirements

• NPR Remote-Permitted: This is a remote-permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, D.C. office, but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves. You will have the option of working (a) remotely from a location of your choosing within the United States that is supported by NPR; (b) on-site at an NPR facility, based on the availability of desks and approval from NPR; or (c) a combination of both. Regardless of where you choose to work from, you may be expected to travel to other locations from time to time to perform the duties of your position.

Job Type

• This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $118,000 - 128,000 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Benefits: NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

#LI-Remote

The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.
NPR Pay Range
$118,000—$128,000 USD

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal – to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application process, please reach out to [email protected].

You may read NPR’s privacy policy to learn about how NPR may handle information you submit with any application.

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