Senior Software Engineer, UI
Roku · San Jose, United States · 5mo ago
Teamwork makes the stream work.
Roku is changing how the world watches TV
Roku is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and we've set our sights on powering every television in the world. Roku pioneered streaming to the TV. Our mission is to be the TV streaming platform that connects the entire TV ecosystem. We connect consumers to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers unique capabilities to engage consumers.
From your first day at Roku, you'll make a valuable - and valued - contribution. We're a fast-growing public company where no one is a bystander. We offer you the opportunity to delight millions of TV streamers around the world while gaining meaningful experience across a variety of disciplines.
About the team
Join the Home Screen team — the engineers behind Roku's home screen and Browse Surfaces, the experience that greets every Roku user when they turn on the TV. We ship to hundreds of millions of devices. Work spans SceneGraph / BrightScript UI, an evolving TypeScript SDK, and the cloud services that drive layout, content, and experiments. We move fast, own features end-to-end, and partner tightly with product, design, ML, ads, and cloud.
About the role
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer who thrives across the full stack of the home screen: client UI frameworks, APIs, and cloud-backed experiences — and who treats agentic AI as a real engineering practice, not a buzzword. You'll ship user-facing surfaces, harden the services and contracts behind them, and build (or extend) agents, skills, and harnesses that make the team faster in production.
You do not need to be a firmware or OS kernel engineer. Deep C++ or low-level OS work is a plus if you have it; the day-to-day bar is modern full-stack delivery on a constrained TV platform, plus proven agentic fluency.
For California only — estimated annual base salary: $141,300 – $360,700. Compensation packages vary by candidate (skill set, certifications, location). Role is eligible for health insurance, equity awards, life insurance, disability benefits, parental leave, wellness benefits, and paid time off.
How you will use AI at Roku
At Roku, we don't just use AI — we work with it. Coding harnesses (Claude Code, Cursor, and similar), MCP servers, custom skills, and agent workflows are part of how this team ships. You should be able to drive an agent on an unfamiliar codebase, verify its output, and talk about what broke when you put multi-step agents on real systems.
What you will be doing
- Design and ship home screen & Browse Surfaces features across SceneGraph / TypeScript UI and cloud-backed content and layout services
- Own features end-to-end: API contracts, client integration, experimentation (A/B), rollout, and production health
- Build and improve agentic tooling the team actually adopts — skills, harnesses, evals, triage/fix agents — not one-off demos
- Drive performance, memory, and reliability where it matters for TV clients and the services behind them
- Partner with UX, PM, ML, ads, and cloud engineering on AI-assisted and personalized experiences
- Mentor engineers; raise the bar on design reviews, agent-assisted code review, and delivery discipline
We are excited if you have
Core (this is the bar)
- 7+ years shipping production software, with real full stack ownership (UI + APIs/services), not frontend-only or backend-only
- Strong TypeScript and/or JavaScript, plus comfort in at least one of: BrightScript / SceneGraph, React (or similar component UI), Python, or Go
- Experience building cloud-integrated product surfaces (REST/GraphQL, event-driven updates, server-driven UI or remote config)
- Evidence of shipped agentic work others use: multi-step agents, tool/MCP integrations, RAG or eval loops, coding agents in a real workflow — come ready to show what it does and what failed
- Clear practice for staying accountable for code you did not hand-type (design-first, review gates, tests/evals)
- Collaboration across product, design, and multiple eng partners; comfort with ambiguity and phased rollouts
- Hybrid San Jose; strong written/async habits for US/UK collaboration
Strong pluses (not required)
- C++, embedded, or consumer-electronics / TV SDK experience
- Linux debugging, multi-threading, or constrained-device performance work
- A/B / experimentation platforms, plugin or component-library architecture
- Prior work on home screen, browse, recommendations, or large-scale consumer clients
How we interview
Working fluently with AI tools is an explicit expectation. The loop includes a hands-on exercise on an unfamiliar codebase using the tools you'd normally reach for. We're watching how you approach a new problem — not whether you've memorized an API.
Hybrid working
Teams generally work in the office Monday through Thursday. Fridays are generally flexible for remote work, except where a role or office requires five days on site.
What's Roku's approach to hybrid working?
Roku fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where teams generally work in the office Monday through Thursday. Fridays are generally flexible for remote work, except for employees whose specific roles or assigned office location require five days' a week attendance.
What are some of the benefits?
Roku is committed to offering a diverse range of benefits as part of our compensation package to support our employees and their families. Our comprehensive benefits include global access to mental health and financial wellness support and resources. Local benefits include statutory and voluntary benefits which may include healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), life, accident, disability, commuter, and retirement options (401(k)/pension). Employees are supported in taking time off, in accordance with local leave policies and other personal needs to support their evolving work and life needs. It's important to note that not every benefit is available in all locations or for every role. For details specific to your location, please consult with your recruiter.
Accommodations
Roku welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments in accordance with applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation at any point in the hiring process, please direct your inquiries to EmployeeRelations@Roku.com.
What should I know about Roku's culture?
Roku is a great place for people who want to work in a fast-paced environment where everyone is focused on the company's success rather than their own. We try to surround ourselves with people who are great at their jobs, who are easy to work with, and who keep their egos in check. We appreciate a sense of humor. We believe a fewer number of very talented folks can do more for less cost than a larger number of less talented teams. We're independent thinkers with big ideas who act boldly, move fast and accomplish extraordinary things through collaboration and trust. In short, at Roku you'll be part of a company that's changing how the world watches TV.
We have a unique culture that we are proud of. We think of ourselves primarily as problem-solvers, which itself is a two-part idea. We come up with the solution, but the solution isn't real until it is built and delivered to the customer. That penchant for action gives us a pragmatic approach to innovation, one that has served us well since 2002.
To learn more about Roku, our global footprint, and how we've grown, visit https://www.weareroku.com/factsheet.
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