Software Engineer, Broadcast & Video Formats
Vidispine · Germany
Purpose of the role
We are looking for an engineer who knows the broadcast and video world in depth and can turn that knowledge into reliable software. You will be our go-to person for video formats, codecs, and broadcast-specific media handling within our MAM platform. You will work in a team on Kubernetes-based, GitOps-delivered services, with architectural guidance from our senior architects.
Responsibilities
- Implement and maintain media-handling features: ingest, analysis, transcoding, proxy generation, and delivery in broadcast-grade formats.
- Analyze and resolve format-related issues (non-conformant files, interlace/frame-rate problems, audio channel mapping, timecode and metadata errors).
- Integrate and tune transcoders and media tools (e.g. FFmpeg, MediaInfo, commercial transcoding engines) in containerized workflows.
- Map and validate technical and descriptive metadata against broadcast standards and customer specifications.
- Support customer projects and escalations with media-domain expertise.
- Contribute to code quality and security (SonarQube, Mend) and to CI/CD pipelines.
- Document format and workflow knowledge so it spreads across the team.
Must-have
- Hands-on experience in broadcast, post-production, or MAM environments.
- Solid knowledge of the video formatsin everyday use:
- Codecs: H.264/AVC, HEVC, MPEG-2, ProRes, DNxHD/DNxHR, XDCAM HD/IMX, AVC-Intra, JPEG 2000
- Containers: MXF (OP1a, OPAtom), MP4/MOV, MPEG-TS, ideally IMF
- Video fundamentals: interlaced vs. progressive, frame rates (incl. 29.97/59.94 and drop-frame timecode), aspect ratios, color spaces (BT.601/709/2020), basics of HDR (PQ/HLG)
- Audio: channel layouts and mapping, sample rates, loudness (EBU R128)
- Experience with media metadata and subtitle/caption formats (e.g. EBU Core, SMPTE, BWF, EBU-TT/STL, TTML, CEA-608/708).
- Practical experience with FFmpeg and media analysis tooling.
- Programming experience in [Java / .Net / C#] and comfort working with REST APIs.
- Working knowledge of Kubernetes and Helm, plus Git-based workflows.
- Structured, quality-conscious way of working; fluent English, German is a plus.
Tooling and stack
- Platform: Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps (Flux or Argo CD)
- Cloud: AWS (working knowledge: S3, EKS, IAM basics)
- CI/CD: Azure DevOps, GitHub
- Quality & security: SonarQube, Mend (day-to-day use, fixing findings)
- Media tooling: FFmpeg, MediaInfo, MXF analysis tools
- Nice to know: OpenTelemetry/Grafana for debugging media pipelines
Nice-to-have
- Experience with Vidispine or similar MAM platforms (Avid, Dalet, Telestream, etc.)
- Delivery specs such as AS-11 (UK DPP), IMF, or broadcaster-specific specifications (e.g. ARD/ZDF)
- Knowledge of live and IP workflows (SMPTE ST 2110, SRT)
- Experience with AI/ML-based media enrichment (speech-to-text, face/object detection)
- Familiarity with AWS media services (MediaConvert, etc.)
Soft skills
- Curious and detail-oriented, enjoys getting to the root cause of a broken file
- Explains media topics clearly to engineers who are not broadcast experts
- Reliable team player who takes ownership of their area and asks early when blocked