Senior Software Engineer, Audio/Video Client

Power real-time conversations for 200+ million users worldwide. The mission of Discord's AV Client team is to give our users an outstanding voice, video, and game-streaming experience across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. That's a lot of platforms! We write native code using platform-specific APIs to provide the optimal experience wherever people use Discord.

Ever wonder what happens when your friend's voice cuts out mid-clutch? Or why that one teammate always sounds like they're underwater? Plot twist: you could be the one fixing that! As a Senior Software Engineer on our AV Client team, your code will be the difference between 'Can you hear me?' and legendary gaming moments that friends talk about for years.

What you'll be doing

• Build the core libraries that power conversations for millions of users (Typescript, Rust, and C++)
• Continuously improve video quality and performance end to end across desktop, browser, and mobile platforms
• Design and run experiments with proper success criteria and statistical rigor - because hunches don't answer the big question: "Does this actually make calls better?"
• Play detective with audio/video gremlins hiding in endless configurations of user hardware

What you should have

• 4+ years crafting large, cross-platform software projects (Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, or game console development),
• You write C++/Rust code that makes computers purr, not cry (aka: understanding of memory management, multi-threading, and low-level optimization techniques)
• You build real-time applications (media applications, games) where milliseconds matter
• You know your way around CPU, GPU and memory profiling and can identify bottlenecks, optimize critical paths, and manage resource constraints effectively
• You design experiments that prove (not just suggest) improvements

Bonus Points

• Protocol Whisperer: Hands-on experience with WebRTC, SDP, SRTP, DTLS
• Codec Connoisseur: Proficiency with common audio/video codecs such as Opus, H.264, AV1, etc.
• Quality Detective: Knowledge of media quality measurement tools (PESQ, POLQA, VMAF, etc)
• Pipeline Virtuoso: Real-world experience with media pipelines on platforms supported by Discord
• Browser Deep-Diver: You've debugged Chromium or Mozilla internals

Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties). Relocation assistance may be available.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $196,000 to $220,500 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.