We are looking for a Senior Applied Research Engineer who brings deep research expertise and strong engineering skills across both audio and video. In this role, you will help advance how Spotify understands, evaluates, and improves media experiences across platforms. You’ll work across the full media pipeline—from backend processing such as ingestion, encoding, and delivery to frontend playback, buffering, and synchronization—solving product problems with research discipline: structured experiments, solid metrics, and evidence-based decisions, in a real production environment.
You’ll join a team working at the intersection of media quality, perception, and engineering. The team builds applied solutions that improve how audio and video experiences perform across Spotify. By turning deep technical understanding into scalable capabilities, they help ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for hundreds of millions of users across devices and platforms.
What You'll Do
Own research-to-production work across audio/video signal processing, perceptual quality, and media intelligence.
Partner with teams to integrate prototypes into production systems and decision-making across areas like music and video information retrieval and quality-aware processing.
Work across the full media pipeline, from encoding and delivery to playback, buffering, and synchronization.
Build evaluation frameworks and support media platform and codec decisions grounded in measurement.
Design perceptual studies, develop tooling that connects quality metrics to real user experience outcomes.
Collaborate with multi-functional teams, turning research insights into scalable capabilities used across Spotify.
Help improve how we evaluate and enhance media quality across the platform.
Drive high-impact initiatives from idea through to measurable outcomes.
Who You Are
You have 8+ years of experience in applied research and engineering in media technology, audio, or video.
You bring deep expertise in audio and/or video, with working knowledge across both domains.
You understand media systems end-to-end, from backend processing through to client-side playback.
You have strong foundations in signal processing and experience with perceptual quality or feature design.
You are comfortable working in Python and have experience with C++ or similar languages.
You have experience running perceptual evaluations or quality benchmarking.
You enjoy building systems that move from research into real-world impact.
You collaborate effectively across disciplines and communicate complex ideas clearly.
You are curious, pragmatic, and motivated by solving meaningful problems.
Where You'll Be
- This role is based in London or Stockholm.
- We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! There will be some in person meetings, but still allows for flexibility to work from home.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in applied research and engineering in media technology, audio, or video
- Deep expertise in audio and/or video
- Working knowledge of backend processing to client-side playback
- Strong foundations in signal processing
- Experience with perceptual quality or feature design
- Comfortable working in Python and experience with C++ or similar languages
- Experience running perceptual evaluations or quality benchmarking
- Effective collaboration and communication skills
Spotify Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Spotify and has not been reviewed or approved by Spotify.
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Flexible Benefits — Employees consistently praise the total compensation package beyond base salary, highlighting a mix of RSUs, cash incentives, and stipends alongside core pay. The package is described as flexible and customizable through equity choices (e.g., RSUs, options, cash) that can be tailored for long-term wealth building.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off offerings are repeatedly highlighted as substantial, including generous vacation, paid sick days, volunteer time, and flexible holidays. These policies are framed as a meaningful part of the overall rewards experience beyond salary.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is portrayed as comprehensive, spanning medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability coverage, and mental health support. Additional employer contributions to HSAs are cited as strengthening the overall health and wellness value proposition.
Spotify Insights
What We Do
Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in Sweden in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 50m tracks for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features including offline mode, improved sound quality, and an ad-free music listening experience.
