OTT Application Integration Tech Lead

• Duration:                          Long term, with rolling extensions every quarter
• No. of working hours:    40 hours per week
• Location:                           Fully remote, you need to be based in EU though
• Contract type:                 One-man company / payroll
• VISA sponsorship:            No

What is the project about?
We are looking for an experienced OTT Application Integration Engineer to own the end-to-end integration, certification, and lifecycle maintenance of third-party native OTT applications (e.g., Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube/Cobalt) on our RDK-based CPE platforms. This is a hands-on role that combines deep AV/streaming and porting-layer engineering on the One Middleware / RDK-Video stack with technical leadership of a small integration team and day-to-day technical cooperation with OTT application vendors.
You will work across the full integration lifecycle — from platform porting and AV pipeline bring-up through certification and field maintenance — while guiding the team, owning root cause analysis for the most complex playback and DRM issues, and driving the applications to certification sign-off.

Key Responsibilities

• Integrate modern native OTT applications into RDK-based embedded systems, working across the One Middleware / RDK services stack and the GStreamer-based AV pipeline.
• Develop and maintain the platform porting layer and AV modules (GStreamer elements, decoders, sinks) required to bring up and optimise each OTT application on new SoC platforms.
• Update and re-integrate already-deployed OTT applications to newer vendor versions, managing API changes, regressions, and backward compatibility.
• Perform initial pre-certification testing to confirm generic porting is working, then drive the full vendor certification process to sign-off.
• Collaborate directly with OTT application vendors throughout integration, certification, and maintenance phases, acting as the technical point of contact.
• Analyse and resolve playback, DRM, performance, memory, and stability issues on CPE platforms, including on remote devices deployed in end-customer homes.
• Own technical root cause analysis (RCA) for field and lab defects, and define, track, and verify corrective actions.
• Design and develop automation tools and test/validation harnesses to ensure repeatable integration, faster triage, and reliable project delivery.
• Maintain and bug-fix integrated applications across the product lifecycle, contributing fixes upstream where applicable.

Leadership, Process & Collaboration

• Act as Technical Lead for the OTT integration team, combining project-wide technical ownership with hands-on development.
• Assign responsibilities, review work, and mentor and coach engineers, supporting their professional development.
• Plan releases and own the embedded software integration process: systematic test and validation, integration rules, and release readiness.
• Coordinate work and accept deliverables across teams and external partners involved in the middleware and integration effort.
• Drive day-to-day technical cooperation with OTT application vendors and SoC/OEM teams during bring-up, certification, and maintenance.
• Work closely with the software Architects team, providing expert input on OTT/embedded-specific solutions, limitations, and requirements.

Required Skills & Experience

• 15+ years of hands-on OTT integration experience on embedded / RDK platforms.
• Proven, hands-on OTT application integration track record across multiple platforms and SoC generations (MIPS and ARM).
• Strong C and C++ coding skills, with working proficiency in additional languages and scripting: Java, Python, and Bash.
• Hands-on experience with IP video streaming and DRM principles — HLS, DASH, PlayReady, and Widevine — and a solid understanding of adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming behaviour and buffering.
• Practical knowledge of A/V codecs, containers, and streaming protocols used for VoD, PPV, and OTT services.
• In-depth GStreamer experience: building, extending, and debugging media pipelines for OTT playback.
• Proven knowledge of RDK components and the software architecture of RDK-based systems, with deep understanding of the RDK base system in the context of the OTT application porting layer.
• Experience with Linux-based embedded build systems, ideally the Yocto Project, for preparing and maintaining RDK-based images.
• Experience with version control and code-review tooling such as Git and Gerrit.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across a broad range of tools and methodologies, with the ability to work on remote devices in end-customer homes.
• Proven technical leadership: leading or coaching engineers and owning technical decisions on a complex, multi-platform project.

Technologies & Domain Expertise

• Streaming & playback: HLS, DASH, GStreamer-based AV pipelines, adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming, buffering, and A/V codecs and containers for VoD, PPV, and OTT.
• DRM & content protection: PlayReady, Widevine, and content protection in QAM and IP systems.
• Embedded security: PKI and SSL/TLS, secure boot, and conditional-access / CA-vendor stacks such as NAGRA or Cisco (NDS); awareness of SoC security features.
• RDK stack: RDK services, native middleware, the device porting layer, and module interdependencies on the RDK-Video framework.
• Build & tooling: OpenEmbedded/Yocto, Git and Gerrit, and CI/CD and verification automation.
• Architectures: MIPS and ARM SoC platforms.
• Languages: C, C++, Java, Python, and Bash.

Attributes

• A problem-solver attitude and the ability to think outside the box.
• Strong analytical skills to debug and resolve complex, cross-system playback and DRM issues.
• Ability to grasp complex technical concepts quickly and explain them clearly in writing and diagrams.
• Comfortable working in an agile, multicultural environment with distributed teams, partners, and customers.

Nice to Have

• Experience with CA-vendor integrations (e.g., NAGRA, Cisco/NDS) and DRM key/licence workflows.
• Familiarity with the DVB family of standards and hybrid IPTV/DVB STB products.
• Experience contributing to the RDK community or upstream open-source components.
• Scrum Master / agile facilitation experience.

Education

• MS or BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.

Does this role spark your interest? Then please provide me with your most recent resume and contact details, so that we can discuss this vacancy in more detail by phone!

You can check other job opportunities in our website: https://www.magno-it.nl/jobs