Software Optimization Engineer – GPU​/Hardware-Accelerated Media; FFmpeg​/HandBrake​/Q

Job Details

A unique Software Engineering position combining leading-edge media software engineering work with software and hardware architectural influence and deep GPU/media domain expertise to deliver industry‑leading hardware‑accelerated video solutions on Intel Graphics architecture to the market.

In this role, you will work with leading open‑source media communities (FFmpeg, Hand Brake, VLC, etc.), independent software vendors, broadcasters, and content‑creation partners, as well as internal Intel engineering teams, to ensure that hardware‑accelerated encode, decode, transcode, and video‑processing pipelines run optimally on Intel client and workstation platforms.

You will utilize deep expertise in Intel® Quick Sync Video (QSV), oneVPL/VPL, Video Acceleration APIs (VA‑API on Linux, D3D11/12 Video on Windows), and modern codec standards (AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265, AV1, VP9, VVC) to research, develop, prototype, and upstream contributions that drive adoption of Intel media capabilities across the open‑source ecosystem.

The team covers a broad spectrum of media use cases—from professional video transcoding farms and live streaming to consumer content creation, screen recording, and AI‑assisted media workflows leveraging hardware‑accelerated media engines combined with GPU‑ and NPU‑accelerated machine‑learning components, such as super‑resolution, denoising, scene detection, and frame interpolation.

You will support and influence software development during all phases of the lifecycle, including feature definition, project setup, execution, upstream review and integration, and go‑to‑market activities. You will also provide technical training, consultation, and hands‑on assistance to open‑source maintainers and ISV developers on media architecture, software development, Intel media technologies, testing, and performance tuning.

You will engage with open‑source maintainers and ISV partners to provide performance analysis and technical guidance throughout the software lifecycle, interface with Intel engineering groups to resolve issues affecting customer and community success, and provide technical feedback to Intel product and engineering teams to help improve future media technologies and solutions.

You will serve as the voice of the open‑source media ecosystem within Intel—researching emerging codecs and standards, staying current with industry advancements, and working closely with industry leaders and community maintainers to help influence Intel's media software and hardware technologies.

This position offers an excellent opportunity to develop advanced media engineering expertise, strengthen open‑source community engagement and project leadership skills, and build relationships with key partners across the media, streaming, and content‑creation industries.

• Analyze, design, develop, debug, and upstream software enhancements to FFmpeg, Hand Brake, and related open‑source media projects (e.g., GStreamer, VLC, OBS, x264/x265, SVT‑AV1, dav1d).
• Develop, optimize, and maintain Intel® Quick Sync Video code paths through oneVPL/VPL, libmfx, VA‑API, and D3D11/12 Video backends.
• Understand community and ISV requirements and help align partner products and open‑source development efforts with Intel's media and graphics technology strategy.
• Ensure that media applications and frameworks released by leading vendors and open‑source communities run best on Intel's current and future client and workstation platforms.
• Drive upstream contributions by authoring patches, participating in code reviews on FFmpeg mailing lists and Hand Brake Git Hub repositories, and acting as a trusted Intel representative within maintainer communities.
• Conduct workload, quality (PSNR, SSIM, VMAF), and performance analyses of hardware‑accelerated encode, decode, and transcode pipelines on Intel and competitive platforms.
• Author technical presentations, blog posts, conference talks, and training materials to share best practices related to Intel media acceleration technologies.
• Contribute to Intel software and hardware development by providing technical feedback from real‑world open‑source workloads to…