Senior Software Engineer, Audio Validation Systems

Why Sony Interactive Entertainment? Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. We’re the company behind PlayStation, delivering cutting-edge hardware, software, and network services to players and game creators around the world. Our role is to create the technologies, tools, and experiences that help developers build the best games on PlayStation.

Role overview: We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to build the tools and automated systems we use to validate audio technologies in the PlayStation SDK. This role sits within SDK Quality Engineering, but the work is primarily software engineering. You’ll design and build audio analysis tools, automated validation pipelines, regression detection systems, and developer-facing diagnostics that help engineers understand whether audio behaviour is correct, stable, and release-ready.

The team: The SDK Quality Engineering team is part of the Foundational Systems and Experiences Engineering group in London. We work on low-level SDKs and core platform technologies used by game developers building PlayStation games. This role focuses on audio technologies within the PlayStation SDK, including libraries, tools, runtime behaviour, and platform-level audio features.

What you’ll be doing:

• Design, build, and maintain audio validation tools for PlayStation SDK audio libraries and technologies.
• Write C/C++ and Python code to analyse audio output, detect regressions, compare SDK versions, and validate expected behaviour.
• Build automated systems for repeatable audio quality measurement, including signal analysis, spectral comparison, latency checks, conformance checks, and regression detection.
• Create tooling that gives engineers clear evidence when audio behaviour changes.
• Work with Audio SDK engineers to understand features, risks, expected behaviour, and testability needs.
• Integrate audio validation into CI, build pipelines, reporting, dashboards, and release workflows.
• Investigate complex audio issues using debugging, data analysis, signal processing, and collaboration with domain experts.
• Own technical areas end to end, from requirements and design through implementation, documentation, maintenance, and support.
• Help define standards for maintainable, reproducible, and trustworthy audio validation tooling.
• Mentor engineers and share knowledge across SDK QE and Audio SDK teams.

What we’re looking for:

Essential:

• Strong professional software engineering experience.
• Strong C/C++ development skills.
• Strong Python development skills.
• Practical understanding of digital audio fundamentals, such as PCM audio, sample rates, channels, latency, dynamic range, filtering, resampling, encoding, or frequency-domain analysis.
• Experience building tools, automation, analysis systems, SDK components, test infrastructure, or developer-facing systems.
• Strong debugging skills across code, data, tooling, environments, and pipelines.
• Ability to take ambiguous technical problems and turn them into robust, maintainable software.
• Experience with source control, code review, CI, and collaborative engineering workflows.
• Clear written and verbal communication, especially when explaining technical findings to engineers with different specialisms.
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Audio Technology, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent practical experience.

Strongly preferred:

• Experience with audio analysis, signal processing, or automated media validation.
• Experience validating libraries, APIs, command-line tools, SDKs, runtime systems, or platform-level software.
• Experience with automated regression detection and quality measurement.
• Experience working with CI systems such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Buildkite, TeamCity, or similar.
• Experience with test frameworks such as GTest, CppUnit, PyTest, or similar.

Useful extras:

• Game audio, console audio, real-time audio systems, middleware, audio engines, or SDK development.
• Perceptual or objective audio quality approaches such as loudness measurement, spectral comparison, null testing, impulse response analysis, latency measurement, glitch detection, dropout detection, PESQ, POLQA, or PEAQ.
• Spatial audio, 3D audio, binaural rendering, ambisonics, HRTFs, object-based audio, or immersive audio formats.
• Performance profiling, numerical correctness testing, floating-point tolerances, or cross-platform determinism.
• Dashboards, telemetry, reporting, or trend analysis.
• Technical leadership, mentoring, or leading work across multiple teams.

What success looks like: You’ll make PlayStation SDK audio technologies easier to validate, easier to debug, and safer to release. Within the first 6 to 12 months, success could look like:

• Audio regressions are detected earlier through automated validation.
• Engineers have clearer evidence when audio behaviour changes between SDK versions.
• Audio quality checks are integrated into repeatable CI or release workflows.
• Key audio validation tools are documented, maintainable, and trusted by engineering teams.
• The team has a clearer technical strategy for audio quality measurement.
• You’re recognised as a senior technical owner for audio validation systems within SDK QE.

Benefits of working at PlayStation: Technology development is not constrained by a specific game or engine; there is space to research, prototype, and develop foundational technologies used across PlayStation. Opportunities to collaborate with engineering and R&D teams across London, Tokyo, San Mateo, and the wider Sony group. Time and support to investigate new approaches, improve engineering systems, and contribute ideas that raise the quality bar. Opportunities to take part in global hackathons and cross-team innovation projects. A relaxed working environment with a high level of trust and autonomy, where engineers are encouraged to express their views and challenge the status quo.

Benefits: Hybrid working, Discretionary bonus opportunity, Private Medical Insurance, Dental Scheme, London Allowance (if applicable), 25 days holiday per year, On Site Gym, Subsidised Café, Free soft drinks, On site bar, Access to cycle garage and showers.

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Equal Opportunity Statement: Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category. We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.