Software Development Engineer in Test - Video Codec

Apple•Cupertino, CA

About The Position

Video Engineering is seeking a strong, experienced, self-motivated Software Development Engineer in Test with a passion for making all Apple product experience the best it can be. You will be working on the latest Apple products, ensuring that the video experience is the best in the world! In this role, your main responsibility will be test design and development for video processing frameworks and low-level software of video codecs, covering both functionality verification and quality measurement across all iOS/macOS/tvOS/visionOS platforms. The work targets image & video encoding/decoding, editing/post-processing, and machine learning based technologies. Your daily tasks will include developing software and tools to validate algorithms and code changes of projects, designing test cases, and architecting test harnesses. You will implement tests in C/C++, Objective-C, Swift, and Python/Shell scripting using test frameworks. Additionally, you will automate workflows in testing and quality evaluation pipelines, triage and root-cause failures, and drive early test strategy and planning. You will also build LLM-based tools and agentic workflows that extend what these pipelines can automate at scale. You will partner with R&D engineering teams and both internal and external cross-functional partners to ensure image and video frameworks/firmware/drivers deliver the highest quality video experience.

Requirements

BS and a minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience
6+ years programming experience in C/C++, Objective-C/Swift, and Python
6+ years development experience on macOS or unix/linux platform
Hands-on experience using LLMs in software development, including building workflows with AI/LLM-based tools
Experience in test case development and software testing methodologies
Understanding of software engineering concepts with hands-on experience practicing CI/CD in software development

Nice To Haves

Strong knowledge of software engineering and development lifecycles
Experience in building LLM-powered tooling — including prompt engineering, agent design, tool/API integration, and MCP-based integrations
Experience in test development using frameworks such as XCTest or PyTest
Experience with white-box / grey-box testing, API testing, mutation testing, static testing, or code coverage analysis
Experience in image or video quality evaluation or model benchmarking and quality metrics
Understanding of image or video codecs (e.g. AVC, HEVC, VP9, AV1) and video processing pipelines
Excellent problem solving and debugging skills
Great communication and negotiation skills, able to collaborate and work as a team
Self-sufficient and self-motivated, and able to work independently and drive projects to closure in a timely manner

Responsibilities

Test design and development for video processing frameworks and low-level software of video codecs.
Functionality verification and quality measurement across all iOS/macOS/tvOS/visionOS platforms.
Developing software and tools to validate algorithms and code changes of projects.
Designing test cases.
Architecting test harnesses.
Implementing tests in C/C++, Objective-C, Swift, and Python/Shell scripting using test frameworks.
Automating workflows in testing and quality evaluation pipelines.
Triage and root-cause failures.
Drive early test strategy and planning.
Build LLM-based tools and agentic workflows.
Partner with R&D engineering teams and cross-functional partners to ensure high-quality video experience.