Sr. Backend Software Engineer (Ad Engineering)
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 16, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 14, 2026.
At Philo, we’re a group of technology and product people who set out to build the future of television, marrying the best in modern technology with the most compelling medium ever invented - in short, we’re building the TV experience that we’ve always wanted for ourselves. In practice this means leveraging cloud delivery, modern tech stacks, machine learning, and hand-crafted native app experiences on all of our platforms. We aim to deliver a rock solid experience on the streaming basics, while cooking up next generation multi-screen and multi-user playback experiences.
Senior Backend Software Engineer (Ad Engineering)
Philo's video streaming infrastructure is highly distributed, horizontally scalable and harnesses the power of cloud computing. Our OTT pipeline, developed in-house, ingests both live and VOD content from our content partners, dynamically inserts ads into video streams using Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI), and optimally delivers them to our growing user base at exabyte scale.
We are seeking an enthusiastic Software Engineer to help us build the future of our ads platform. As a member of a growing team, you will serve as both a technical leader to help us engineer our ad tech stack, as well as an internal subject matter expert on ad technology (both for our platforms as well as trends in the industry at large).
On the business side, Philo is leading the CTV ad industry by focusing 100% on programmatic advertising and resellers, foregoing the traditional direct sales models. At Philo you will be helping to shape the future of television advertising as you build the next generation of our ad business. Collaborating with our Ad Operations and business teams, you will work with our partners to gather requirements, determine the optimal services and partner integrations needed to optimize Philo’s transactions throughout the programmatic ad ecosystem, then go build and operate the services to make that vision a reality.
Responsibilities:
Design, implement, deploy, and monitor the next generation of Philo’s SSAI service.
Collaborate with our partners in the ad ecosystem to engineer ad tech products that deliver the finest TV watching experience for Philo’s users and best value for advertisers.
Collaborate with internal stakeholders across video delivery, ad operations, and data science teams to ensure we are measuring and optimizing every aspect of our ad delivery process (and our users’ viewing experience)
Build scalable and resilient data pipelines for ingesting ad creatives and ad measurement events, using distributed computing and micro-services architecture principles.
Drive continuous improvements to the reliability, performance, accuracy, and security of Philo’s ad services
Implement identity solutions for ad targeting and measurement.
Interface with external standards bodies (IAB, MRC, etc) to implement new certifications, maintain compliance with new standard adoption, etc.
Build tools to proactively monitor and quickly troubleshoot issues having to do with ad delivery
Qualifications:
8+ years of software development experience.
Experience building or integrating SSAI using MPEG-DASH or HLS media streaming technologies.
Familiarity with industry standards such as VAST, VMAP, OpenRTB and header bidding.
Experience building or integrating ad servers, demand-side platforms or supply-side platforms with personalized ad targeting capabilities.
Familiarity with programmatic advertising using platforms like Publica, Freewheel, Google Ad Exchange or Amazon APS.
Proven track record of building highly efficient and highly available software using Golang, Java, C++ or similar programming languages.
Experience operating in cloud computing environments using modern software deployment technologies (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes)
Experience working with large amounts of data and making data-based decisions to prioritize projects, including familiarity with relational and non-relational databases and modern data warehousing and querying.
Experience and aptitude for collaborating and communicating with internal and external stakeholders in both business and technical roles.
Knowledge of ad ecosystem trends and changes that will impact how Philo manages our overall ad stack for years to come
We are language agnostic, but most of our backend code is written in Golang, Ruby and NodeJS, with some C++ and Python. Our services run on Kubernetes, and we practice continuous deployment across all of our systems.
More about Philo
At Philo, we’re a company that puts people first-both our subscribers and our team. We empower our colleagues to do their best work while supporting one another in pursuing shared goals. We value pragmatism, pride in our work, and passion, with transparency and openness as fundamental parts of our culture.
We’re committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as we grow the Philo team and shape the future of TV. We believe that a diverse range of voices and perspectives enables us to innovate faster and create the best experiences for our subscribers. Philo is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We’re committed to supporting every candidate and employee. If you need an accommodation at any stage of the process, please email [email protected] and we’ll work with you to meet your needs.
Philo offers 70+ top-rated networks, including AMC, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, Hallmark Channel, HGTV, HISTORY, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, MTV, Nickelodeon, OWN, VH1, We TV, and more. It also includes all the groundbreaking originals and blockbuster movies available with AMC+ and access to HBO Max Basic With Ads and discovery+. Our service also includes 100+ free channels and premium add-ons like STARZ and MGM+.
Our extensive library boasts over 85,000 titles, and our unlimited DVR allows users to save their favorite shows and movies for up to a year, skipping ads for a seamless viewing experience. Stream on up to three devices simultaneously, whether on your phone, tablet, laptop, or TV using Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Samsung TV, Android TV, Vizio TV, or Chromecast.
Philo is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and Cambridge, MA. Our leadership team includes alums from HBO, Tubi, and Meraki, and is backed by NEA and industry partners like Warner Brothers Discovery, Paramount, AMC, and A&E.
Join us at Philo and be part of a team that's shaping the future of TV!
Projected Start Date: ASAP
Status: Full-time
Location: San Francisco, CA, Brooklyn, NY, Cambridge, MA, or fully remote within the U.S.
Compensation: Includes annual salary, company stock options, and health benefits. Salary is determined by experience and location:
San Francisco, New York City: $195K - $250K
Boston, DC Metro, Los Angeles, Seattle: $185K - $240K
Denver, Atlanta, Austin, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Chicago: $175K - $230K
Texas, Florida: $165K - $220K
We value a diverse and inclusive workplace and we welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and perspectives. Philo is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that everyone does their best work when they are supported by each other and the company, and we offer a generous set of benefits to make sure the Philo team is happy and healthy. Here is a sampling of the benefits we offer our team:
Full health, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
401(k) plan with employer contributions (we match 100% of deferrals up to 3% of pay and 50% of the next 2% of pay)
Flexible working hours
Up to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leave
Unlimited paid time off for vacation and sick leave
$2,000 annual vacation bonus (we pay you to take a two week vacation)
$5,250 annually for professional development and educational assistance
$1,250 annual home office + TV stipend during first year of employment ($250 annually thereafter)
$500/month ($6,000/year) bonus for employees who commit to working at least 3 days per week in our offices, plus generous commuter benefits ($315/month towards transit, rideshare, bike rental, or parking at our HQ office in San Francisco)
Free Gympass subscription - an all-in-one corporate benefit that gives employees the largest selection of gyms, studios, classes, training and wellness apps
Dog-friendly office
And much more!
For California Residents:Philo’s CCPA Notice at Collection - Employees, Applicants, Owners, Directors, Officers and Contractors
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Use of Automated Tools in Our Hiring Process
We use software tools, including our applicant tracking system (Ashby), to help manage applications for this role. Automated features (i) assess the skills, experience, and qualifications relevant to the role as described in this posting, and (ii) flag applications that appear fraudulent, duplicative, or not genuinely submitted by the applicant.
A summary of the most recent independent bias audit of the automated employment decision tool used in this process, including the audit date and data source, is available here: Bias Audit Summary.
You may request that a member of our team review a decision through a process that does not rely on the automated tools, or request a reasonable accommodation, by emailing [email protected]. We will not retaliate against you for exercising your rights.
Information about the type and source of the data our tools collect, our data retention policy, and how these tools were used in evaluating your application is described in our Privacy Notice - Employees,Applicants, Officers, Directors, and Contractors, or available by emailing [email protected].
Depending on your state of residence, you may have additional rights, including to an explanation of an adverse decision, correction of inaccurate data, and meaningful human review. To exercise these or ask whether they apply, email [email protected].