Lead Software Developer

About Wowza Wowza Media Systems is a Colorado-based global leader in video streaming software backed by Clearhaven Partners (Boston, MA). Our flagship product, Wowza Streaming Engine, is one of the streaming industry's most foundational, widely adopted, widely trusted and often imitated media server software products. Organizations with mission‑critical video rely on Wowza. Our technology helps power streaming workflows for customers including ESPN, Axon, NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Palantir and many others. Across education, healthcare, enterprise, gaming, government and more, Wowza’s software has been implemented in more than 30,000 customer video solutions in over 100 countries. Role Overview We are looking for a Lead Software Developer who understands the key stages involved in processing and delivering video content. You will play a central role in the evolution of Wowza Streaming Engine, a core component of the streaming infrastructure used by thousands of organizations. This role is ideal for someone with strong experience working with modern video pipelines and technical leadership, who wants to guide and contribute directly to a highly impactful, large‑scale product. What You Will Do Lead the design, development and enhancement of core features of the Wowza Streaming Engine with high levels of reliability and performance. Architect and guide the implementation of advanced workflows for new codecs and hardware accelerators. Oversee and optimize packaging pipelines for large‑scale live and on demand delivery. Tune and optimize GPU or VPU accelerated transcoding workflows to meet performance, cost and quality requirements. Diagnose and resolve complex issues involving video protocols, pipelines and media formats, supporting other team members in the process. Contribute to internal standards, formats and best practices in video streaming, and ensure their adoption across the team. Collaborate with product, support and customer‑facing teams, providing clear technical direction. Act as a video technology expert for other engineering teams and mentor more junior developers. Technical Requirements 7+ years of experience in transcoding and packaging workflows. Minimum 2 years of experience in technical leadership or team guidance within a software engineering environment. Strong mastery of video codecs including AVC H.264, HEVC H.265, VP8, VP9 and AV1. Demonstrated experience with hardware accelerated transcoding (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD or equivalent). Strong knowledge of protocols and formats such as RTMP, RTSP, HLS, MPEG DASH, CMAF and WebRTC. Solid understanding of content encryption and DRM workflows. Familiarity with video quality metrics including PSNR, SSIM and VMAF. Strong programming skills in Java and in C or C++ (including JNI based integration). Experience designing major components of a complex or distributed application. Experience in unit testing, performance tuning and debugging multithreaded Java applications. Nice To Have Contributions to open‑source video projects. Direct experience with Wowza Streaming Engine or Wowza Video. Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing environments. Experience creating public APIs or SDKs. Why Join Wowza and This Team Work on a foundational product in the global video ecosystem. Direct impact on the quality, performance and reliability of production streaming workflows. Senior, pragmatic and collaborative engineering team. Flexible work options from Montreal or anywhere in Canada. Benefits And Perks Competitive compensation package. Generous paid time off and company holidays. Comprehensive health benefits. Retirement savings program with company contribution. Paid parental leave. Short‑term and long‑term disability coverage. Training and professional development opportunities. Employee assistance program and wellness support. Details of the benefits package for this role will be discussed during the interview process. Who We Are, Culturally At Wowza, you will be part of a fast‑paced, mission‑driven team that powers real‑world, high‑impact use cases, from live streaming graduations to supporting critical monitoring and decision workflows. We encourage ownership, collaboration, and curiosity, and we take pride in building software that other engineers love to run in production. Wowza Media Systems does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits. Seniority Level Mid‑Senior level Employment Type Full‑time Job Function Other Industries IT Services and IT Consulting #J-18808-Ljbffr