We are building the next-generation AI-powered platform and web application for easy and fast creation of audio and video content. Building a revolutionary way to record, transcribe, edit, and mix audio and video on the web comes with a series of unique technical challenges and requires solving hard and complex problems.
We are looking for an experienced software engineer to build a best-in-class video editing and streaming platform to power the core editing and AI functionality of the app.
About the team: Descript’s editor product makes the creation of high quality video and audio content accessible to anyone. The product, which was originally geared towards podcasters, has grown into a broad suite of editing tools that support a wide range of use cases. The Editor team is responsible for building the product experiences that will continue to expand the capabilities of the editing experience and enable even more people to experience the ease and joy of producing content with Descript.
What you bring:
- 5+ years of professional fullstack software engineering experience.
- Expertise in Typescript, React, and RESTful APIs
- Solid CS fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, databases (Postgres, Redis)
- Experience building creative tools in the past or you're a frequent user of creative media tools
- A desire to have a high degree of ownership and accountability
- A deep understanding of system design principles and are effective at understanding and integrating customer needs into your decisions
- The ability to thrive in collaborative environments including when working with other functions (e.g. product, design, research, AI engineering)
What the team is working on:
As the owners of the core editing experience, the Editor team’s work covers a broad range of features.
- Building traditional editing functionality (e.g. timeline editing, effects & animations)
- Integrating in-house (e.g. studio audio) and third-party AI functionality to supercharge any user’s ability to make excellent video and audio content
- Supporting the data model and systems that manage the state of projects across clients
- Building media management features that enable organizations to build on Descript as a team
This team might be a good fit for you if…
- You’re excited to work on creative tools where users’ workflows are varied and complex
- You’re energized by having a high degree of ownership and accountability
- You like to own technical solutions and are also passionate about making the best product experience possible for the user
- You thrive in collaborative environments and enjoy working with other functions (e.g. product, design, research, AI engineering)
At our current size and stage, we embrace a flat organizational structure and value the expertise and contributions of every team member. As such, we have a unified job title for our engineering roles where everyone, including those with Staff-level scope, is considered a Software Engineer. While titles may not change, we are actively seeking Software Engineers with senior-or-higher-equivalent experience to join our team.
The base salary range for this role is $193,000-$250,000/year. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise, location, and may vary from the amount above.
Descript is building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We are a team of 150 and the backing of some of the world's greatest investors (OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital).
Descript is the special company that's in possession of both product market fit and the raw materials (passionate user community, great product, large market) for growth, but is still early enough that each new employee has a measurable influence on the direction of the company.
Benefits include a generous healthcare package, 401k matching program, catered lunches, and flexible vacation time. Our headquarters are located in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA. We're hiring for a mix of remote roles and hybrid roles. For those who are remote, we have a handful of opportunities throughout the year for in person collaboration. For our hybrid roles, we're flexible, and you're an adult—we don't expect or mandate that you're in the office every day. We do believe there are valuable and serendipitous moments of discovery and collaboration that come from working together in person.
Descript is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We believe in actively building a team rich in diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to better allow our employees, products, and community to thrive.
Top Skills
What We Do
Descript builds simple and powerful collaborative tools for new media creators. We strive to eliminate the tedious work that often stands between an idea and its expression, so that creators can focus on developing their craft instead of their usage of tools.
Descript is a next generation digital media platform that offers a new "engine" that lets you edit audio by editing text (instead of waveforms).
That means it does transcription (both automated and human-powered, whichever you prefer), but more interestingly, it lets you move the audio around by simply editing the transcript.
If you're new to editing audio, you'll find it far easier - it's basically like using a word processor. If you're experienced, Descript is faster than waveform editing - and more fun.
If you work with voice audio (as opposed to music), Descript is what the future looks like...join us and change the world.
