Senior Software Engineer, Core Platform

About the Role

Reddit is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its Core Platform organization to build, operate, and scale the media platform serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The role focuses on media ingestion, processing, storage, and distribution at global scale.

As part of the Core Systems & Libraries team, you will also design, build, and run critical foundational services, platforms, and libraries—both media and non-media—that engineering teams across Reddit rely on. You will provide technical coaching and mentorship, maintain high uptime and performance, and help shape the team's roadmap.

This is a full-time, remote position listed in Los Angeles, California, with 40 scheduled hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop innovative solutions to scale Reddit.
• Build platform API projects used across the engineering organization.
• Mentor and coach junior engineers on your team.
• Build, deliver, and operate services supporting millions of transactions per second with 99.999% availability or better.
• Optimize Reddit's global media experience.
• Help develop a roadmap supporting a growing engineering organization.

Qualifications

• Strong software development experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages, such as Python or Go.
• At least 5 years of experience with large-scale, mission-critical distributed systems.
• Excellent communication skills, including effective partnership with teams in a fully remote environment and discussion of complex topics with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience with GraphQL, gRPC, Thrift, and Protobuf, and the ability to design and implement maintainable APIs.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes and cloud platforms such as AWS and GCP.
• A history of building clean, maintainable, well-tested code.
• Media delivery expertise spanning backend systems through the user experience, including optimization of media performance, scalability, and delivery across the stack.
• Familiarity with media processing and global distribution, including image scaling, cropping, progressive JPEG, WebP, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), MPEG-DASH, MP4, and other streaming protocols.
• Familiarity with video compression standards including H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP9, and AV1, and media distribution from user origin through a CDN to the user experience.

Compensation and Benefits

• Annual base salary: $190,800–$267,100 USD.
• Eligible for restricted stock units; commission eligibility depends on the position offered.
• Comprehensive healthcare, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and income replacement programs.
• 401(k) with employer match.
• Workspace, professional development, and caregiving support programs.
• Family planning support, gender-affirming care, and mental health and coaching benefits.
• Flexible vacation, paid volunteer time off, and generous paid parental leave.

The posting may span more than one career level. Final offers depend on factors including skills, experience, and relevant licenses or credentials and may vary from the listed range.

Interview and Application Information

• In select roles and locations, interviews may be recorded, transcribed, and summarized using AI. Candidates may opt out before scheduled interviews.
• Interview information collected may include identifiers, professional and employment-related information, audio/video recordings, and information voluntarily shared. It is used to evaluate candidacy and is not sold or disclosed to third parties for marketing purposes.
• Interview recordings will be deleted promptly after a hiring decision. Additional details are available in Reddit's Candidate Privacy Policy for Potential Employees and Contractors.
• Candidates requiring disability-related interview accommodations should notify their recruiter.