
Software Development Engineer in Test - Video Codec
Required skills
- video processing frameworks
- low-level software
- video codecs
- image & video encoding/decoding
- editing/post-processing
- machine learning based technologies
- test cases
- test harnesses
- C/C++
- Objective-C
Nice to have
- prompt engineering
- agent design
- tool/API integration
- MCP-based integrations
- XCTest
- PyTest
Role summary
Apple's Video Engineering team is seeking an experienced Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to ensure the highest quality video experience across Apple products. This role involves designing and developing tests for video processing frameworks and low-level codec software, covering functionality and quality measurement on iOS, macOS, tvOS, and visionOS. Responsibilities include developing validation tools, implementing tests in C/C++, Objective-C, Swift, and Python, automating testing pipelines, and building LLM-based tools for scaled automation. The engineer will collaborate with R&D teams and cross-functional partners to deliver exceptional video quality.
Description
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.
Minimum Qualifications
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
Preferred Qualifications
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
Sample Apple interview questions
- 1
Design a typeahead box for a search engine
system designmedium - 2
Design a rate limiter
system designmedium - 3
Architect a key-value store for distributed systems.
system designmedium - 4
Design a system to schedule jobs in a distributed environment
system designmedium - 5
What is an API and how does it work?
technicalmedium
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