Senior Software Engineer, Core Platform

Role

Reddit is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Core Platform, to build, operate, and scale its global media platform. The role covers media ingestion, processing, storage, and distribution for hundreds of millions of users. As part of the Core Systems & Libraries team, you will also design, build, and run foundational media and non-media services, platforms, and libraries used across Reddit engineering.

This is a full-time, remote position listed in Chicago, Illinois, 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 five-nines availability or better.
• Improve the performance, scalability, and delivery of Reddit's global media experience.
• Help define a technical roadmap supporting a growing engineering organization while maintaining high uptime and strong performance.

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 collaboration 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 performance, scalability, and delivery across the stack.
• Familiarity with media processing and global distribution, including image scaling, cropping, progressive JPEG, WebP, HLS, MPEG-DASH, MP4, and other streaming protocols.
• Familiarity with video compression standards including H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP9, and AV1, and 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.
• Final compensation depends on skills, experience, relevant credentials, and other factors. The posting may span more than one career level.
• 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.

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 may include identifiers, professional and employment information, audio/video recordings, and other information voluntarily shared. It is used to evaluate the application, is not sold or disclosed for third-party marketing, and interview recordings are deleted promptly after a hiring decision. Further details are available in Reddit's Candidate Privacy Policy.
• Candidates requiring disability-related interview accommodations should notify their recruiter.