Company Description
VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.
Job Description
The Opportunity
As a Senior iOS Software Engineer on the Fandango APEX Video Player team, you will play a critical role in shaping the video playback experience for millions of users. You’ll design, build, and evolve our iOS Video Player SDK, enabling reliable, high-quality streaming across our platforms.
This role sits at the intersection of mobile engineering and video technology, partnering closely with cross-platform engineers, QA, and operations to deliver scalable playback solutions and continuously improve performance and quality of experience.
Why This Role Matters:
Video playback is core to Fandango’s digital experience. Your work will directly impact streaming reliability, performance, and innovation—ensuring audiences can seamlessly engage with the content they love.
Work Environment:
This is a fully remote role with opportunities for intentional in-person collaboration (~10%) for team building, planning, and key moments that benefit from face-to-face connection.
What You'll Do
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Design, build, and maintain a robust iOS Video Player SDK using Swift and Apple media frameworks
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Lead and contribute to scalable architecture for cross-platform video playback solutions
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Implement and optimize streaming features including HLS playback, buffering, DRM (FairPlay), and offline capabilities
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Diagnose and resolve complex playback issues across the video delivery pipeline, improving performance and reliability
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Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, QA, and operations teams to deliver high-quality releases
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Provide technical leadership through code reviews, mentorship, and documentation to support long-term maintainability
Qualifications
What You Bring
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Strong experience in iOS development with deep proficiency in Swift and Apple frameworks (AVFoundation, AVPlayer)
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Hands-on expertise with HLS streaming, DRM (FairPlay), and video playback optimization
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Solid understanding of streaming protocols, playback performance, and debugging issues such as buffering and bitrate adaptation
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Experience building scalable, maintainable systems and contributing to shared SDKs or platform components
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Familiarity with analytics, QoE metrics, and instrumentation is a plus
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Exposure to additional platforms (Android, Roku, web) or video ad integrations (VAST/VMAP) is a plus
How We Do It at Versant:
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Trust, Teamwork, Transparency, Agility, and Entrepreneurial Spirit are core to how you operate—collaborating effectively across teams, communicating openly, and taking ownership of outcomes
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You demonstrate Trust through high-quality, reliable engineering practices
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You embody Teamwork by partnering across disciplines to solve complex problems
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You practice Transparency in sharing insights, challenges, and progress
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You show Agility by adapting quickly to evolving technologies and priorities
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You bring an Entrepreneurial Spirit by proactively identifying improvements and driving innovation in video playback experiences
Why You’ll Love It Here
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Opportunity to work on high-impact streaming technology reaching millions of users
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Collaborative, cross-functional environment with strong engineering talent
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Flexibility of a fully remote role with intentional in-person connection opportunities
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Competitive benefits package including health, wellness, and retirement support
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A culture that values innovation, ownership, and continuous learning
Fully Remote: This position has been designated as fully remote, meaning that the position is expected to contribute from a non-Versant worksite, most commonly an employee’s residence.
Additional Information
As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
For LA County and City Residents Only: VERSANT Media will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories, or arrest or conviction records, in a manner consistent with relevant legal requirements, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, where applicable.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].
VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.
VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.
