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Playback Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Oracle

Principal Playback QoE Engineer

Seattle, WA · On-site

We are seeking a Senior Principal Playback QoE Engineer to define and build the real-time quality intelligence layer for OVE. This role will connect viewer-side playback telemetry with OVE ...

Oracle

Principal Playback QoE Engineer

Seattle, WA

We are seeking a Senior Principal Playback QoE Engineer to define and build the real-time quality intelligence layer for OVE. This role will connect viewer-side playback telemetry with OVE ...

Oracle

Principal Playback QoE Engineer

Seattle, WA

We are seeking a Senior Principal Playback QoE Engineer to define and build the real-time quality intelligence layer for OVE. This role will connect viewer-side playback telemetry with OVE ...

Kake Group

Senior iOS Video Player Engineer

Austin, TX · Remote

$143K/yr

Tune playback performance at scale to ensure reliable, high-quality viewing experiences. Use video ... Key Responsibilities: - Collaborate with Engineering, Product, and Backend Technology Services ...

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How much do playback engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jun 20, 2026, the average hourly pay for playback engineer in the United States is $47.09, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $35.82 and $60.82 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What jobs pay 400 an hour?

Playback engineers typically do not earn $400 an hour; such high rates are more common in specialized freelance roles like top-tier consultants, legal experts, or executive-level professionals. In the entertainment industry, highly experienced audio or video engineers working on major projects or events may command high hourly rates, but $400 per hour is uncommon for standard playback engineering positions. Achieving this rate usually requires extensive experience, a strong reputation, and working on high-profile projects or as an independent contractor.

What does a Playback Engineer do?

A Playback Engineer is responsible for managing and operating the backing tracks, click tracks, and digital elements used in live performances. They ensure seamless audio playback using software like Ableton Live, often syncing tracks with lighting and video cues. Their role includes programming setlists, troubleshooting technical issues, and collaborating with musicians and crew to maintain consistent sound quality.

What are the typical daily responsibilities of a Playback Engineer during a live event tour?

As a Playback Engineer on tour, you'll be responsible for programming, operating, and maintaining playback systems that supply pre-recorded tracks, click tracks, and timecode to the band and production team. Your typical day may include setting up and testing equipment, troubleshooting technical issues, coordinating with musical directors and other crew members, and ensuring all playback cues run accurately during performances. You may also collaborate with lighting and video teams to synchronize production elements and may need to adapt to last-minute show changes. The role requires flexibility and strong communication skills, as you'll often work in fast-paced, dynamic environments to deliver flawless live productions.

What engineers make $500,000?

Senior playback engineers or audio engineers with extensive experience, specialized skills, and working in high-paying industries such as live event production, broadcasting, or large-scale entertainment may earn salaries around $500,000. Achieving this level often requires advanced certifications, leadership roles, and working in high-demand environments with long hours and complex technical responsibilities.

What does a playback engineer do?

A playback engineer is responsible for managing and operating playback systems during live performances or recordings, ensuring that pre-recorded tracks, sound effects, and backing tracks are synchronized and played back accurately. They work with audio equipment, software, and technical staff to deliver seamless audio playback and may troubleshoot issues in real-time. Proficiency with digital audio workstations and a good understanding of sound systems are essential for this role.

What engineers make $300,000 a year?

Senior playback engineers, audio engineers, and broadcast engineers with extensive experience, specialized skills, and certifications can earn $300,000 or more annually, especially in high-demand industries like live event production, broadcasting, or large-scale entertainment. Achieving this level often requires advanced technical expertise, leadership roles, and working in high-paying markets or companies with complex audio systems and equipment.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Playback Engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Playback Engineer, you need expertise in audio engineering, signal flow, and live sound reinforcement, often demonstrated by a degree or equivalent experience in audio production. Familiarity with playback systems such as Ableton Live, Pro Tools, and digital audio interfaces—as well as certifications from manufacturers or relevant training—are highly valuable. Strong problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and excellent communication skills help you excel in high-pressure environments. These competencies ensure smooth integration of playback tracks, seamless show execution, and effective collaboration with artists and technical teams.

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Playback Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Playback Engineer job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 64% Full Time, 26% Part Time, 5% Temporary, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $97,940 per year, or $47.1 per hour.
Principal Playback QoE Engineer

Principal Playback QoE Engineer

Oracle

Seattle, WA • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted yesterday

Oracle rating

8.7

Company rating: 8.7 out of 10

Based on 134 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

39th of 191 rated software companies

Job description

Job Description
We are seeking a Senior Principal Playback QoE Engineer to define and build the real-time quality intelligence layer for OVE. This role will connect viewer-side playback telemetry with OVE infrastructure behavior, enabling real-time live-event operations, customer-facing quality reporting, and data-driven optimization of the delivery platform.
Why OCI
  • Build core technology for next-generation live streaming infrastructure
  • Work on high-scale data systems tied directly to viewer experience
  • Shape the QoE foundation for a greenfield media delivery platform
  • Solve problems across playback, telemetry, networking, edge delivery, and analytics
  • Influence how OVE proves quality, reliability, and customer value during major live events

Responsibilities
  • Define OVE's canonical playback QoE metric model
  • Design and build real-time QoE telemetry pipelines using Kafka, Flink, or equivalent streaming systems
  • Process large-scale playback events across sessions, devices, geographies, ISPs, app versions, protocols, and delivery paths
  • Build real-time aggregations, anomaly detection, alerting, and live-event dashboards
  • Correlate playback telemetry with OVE relay, control plane, routing, and fallback behavior
  • Partner with player, infrastructure, observability, and product teams to improve end-to-end video quality
  • Support customer-facing QoE reporting, post-event analysis, and operational reviews
  • Identify playback regressions by device, region, ISP, app version, or delivery path
  • Help define QoE-driven feedback loops for routing, failover, capacity planning, and event readiness
  • Drive engineering standards for telemetry schemas, event quality, data correctness, and operational reliability

Responsibilities
Qualifications
  • 10+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, distributed systems, media platforms, or observability systems
  • Strong understanding of video playback QoE metrics and streaming media behavior
  • Hands-on experience with Kafka, Flink, Spark Streaming, Beam, Pulsar, or comparable large-scale streaming data systems
  • Experience designing real-time pipelines using event-time processing, windowing, stateful aggregation, stream joins, and schema evolution
  • Experience operating high-scale telemetry or observability systems with high-cardinality dimensions
  • Strong systems debugging skills across client, edge, backend, and data processing layers
  • Familiarity with HLS, DASH, low-latency streaming, CDN behavior, edge delivery, or player telemetry
  • Experience supporting live-event streaming, large customer launches, or high-traffic operational events is a plus
  • Experience with QoE analytics, anomaly detection, SLOs, customer dashboards, or incident response is a plus
  • Strong programming skills in Java, Scala, Python, Go, or similar production engineering languages

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience with live sports, major broadcast events, or large-scale linear streaming
  • Experience building command-center dashboards for real-time event operations
  • Experience with Conviva, Mux Data, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, ClickHouse, Druid, Pinot, OpenSearch, or similar analytics and observability systems
  • Experience correlating playback telemetry with CDN, edge, origin, or network data
  • Experience defining customer-facing quality metrics, SLAs, SLOs, or post-event reporting
  • Familiarity with MoQ, QUIC, WebRTC, low-latency HLS, or emerging streaming protocols

Qualifications
Disclaimer:
Certain U.S. based or U.S. customer or client-facing roles may be required to comply with applicable requirements, such as immunization/occupational health mandates, and/or drug testing requirements.
Range and benefit information provided in this posting are specific to the stated locations only
US: Hiring Range in USD from: $99,600 to $234,600 per annum. May be eligible for bonus, equity, and compensation deferral.
Oracle maintains broad salary ranges for its roles in order to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions and locations, as well as reflect Oracle's differing products, industries and lines of business.
Candidates are typically placed into the range based on the preceding factors as well as internal peer equity.
Oracle US offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes the following:
1. Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion
2. Short term disability and long term disability
3. Life insurance and AD&D
4. Supplemental life insurance (Employee/Spouse/Child)
5. Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts
6. Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits
7. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match
8. Paid time off: Flexible Vacation is provided to all eligible employees assigned to a salaried (non-overtime eligible) position. Accrued Vacation is provided to all other employees eligible for vacation benefits. For employees working at least 35 hours per week, the vacation accrual rate is 13 days annually for the first three years of employment and 18 days annually for subsequent years of employment. Vacation accrual is prorated for employees working between 20 and 34 hours per week. Employees working fewer than 20 hours per week are not eligible for vacation.
9. 11 paid holidays
10. Paid sick leave: 72 hours of paid sick leave upon date of hire. Refreshes each calendar year. Unused balance will carry over each year up to a maximum cap of 112 hours.
11. Paid parental leave
12. Adoption assistance
13. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
14. Financial planning and group legal
15. Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner and pet insurance
The role will generally accept applications for at least three calendar days from the posting date or as long as the job remains posted.
Career Level - IC4
About Us
Only Oracle brings together the data, infrastructure, applications, and expertise to power everything from industry innovations to life-saving care. And with AI embedded across our products and services, we help customers turn that promise into a better future for all. Discover your potential at a company leading the way in AI and cloud solutions that impact billions of lives.
True innovation starts when everyone is empowered to contribute. That's why we're committed to growing a workforce that promotes opportunities for all with competitive benefits that support our people with flexible medical, life insurance, and retirement options. We also encourage employees to give back to their communities through our volunteer programs.
We're committed to including people with disabilities at all stages of the employment process. If you require accessibility assistance or accommodation for a disability at any point, let us know by emailing accommodation-request_mb@oracle.com or by calling 1-888-404-2494 in the United States.
Oracle is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans' status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Oracle will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

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About Oracle

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An Oracle career can span industries, roles, Countries and cultures, giving you the opportunity to flourish in new roles and innovate, while blending work life in. Oracle has thrived through 40+ years of change by innovating and operating with integrity while delivering for the top companies in almost every industry. In order to nurture the talent that makes this happen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that celebrates and values diverse insights and perspectives, a workforce that inspires thought leadership and innovation. Oracle offers a highly competitive suite of Employee Benefits designed on the principles of parity, consistency, and affordability. The overall package includes certain core elements such as Medical, Life Insurance, access to Retirement Planning, and much more. We also encourage our employees to engage in the culture of giving back to the communities where we live and do business. At Oracle, we believe that innovation starts with diversity and inclusion and to create the future we need talent from various backgrounds, perspectives, and abilities. We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to successfully participate in the job application, interview process, and in potential roles. to perform crucial job functions. That's why we're committed to creating a workforce where all individuals can do their best work. It's when everyone's voice is heard and valued that we're inspired to go beyond what's been done before.

Industry

It services

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Redwood City, CA, US

Year founded

1977

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