VP, Video Engineering

Company Description

VERSANT is a leading force in news, sports and entertainment - home to iconic and trusted brands that inspire, inform, and delight audiences. Our unique combination of content, technology and services enriches the cultural fabric, igniting passions, sparking conversations, and connecting people to what they love most.

As an independent, publicly traded company, VERSANT brings together powerhouse cable networks - including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel - with dynamic digital and direct-to-consumer brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Together, these businesses reflect our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across every screen and service.

VERSANT is an industry-changing media company fueled by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a strong foundation and a forward-looking vision, VERSANT empowers creativity, embraces change, and drives connection in an ever-evolving world.

Job Description

About the Role: 

VERSANT is building a centralized Video platform to power live, linear, and on-demand video experiences across our portfolio of brands. As Vice President, Video Platforms, you will define and lead the strategy, architecture, and execution of a modern video platform ecosystem supporting web, mobile, connected TV, and emerging digital experiences. 

This is a highly visible leadership role focused on transforming a fragmented, partially outsourced environment into a scalable, unified platform capability that supports millions of users, premium content experiences, and evolving monetization strategies. You will partner across Product, Engineering, Ad Sales, Distribution, and Brand Technology teams to establish a long-term vision for video delivery at Versant. 

What You’ll Do: 

• Define and lead the long-term strategy for Versant’s centralized video platform ecosystem 

• Build and scale platforms supporting live streaming, live events, VOD playback, and video delivery across web, mobile, and connected TV 

• Lead architecture and operational strategy across encoding, transcoding, packaging, playback, CDN delivery, observability, and monetization 

• Establish a resilient multi-CDN strategy focused on performance, scalability, reliability, and cost optimization 

• Drive platform modernization efforts, including the migration and consolidation of legacy and third-party video platform solutions into a unified, scalable ecosystem 

• Partner with key vendors and technology providers across the video ecosystem 

• Define build-versus-buy decisions and platform standards across brands and business units 

• Collaborate closely with Product, Ad Sales, Data, and Brand Engineering teams to align platform capabilities with business priorities 

• Build and lead high-performing engineering and platform teams while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and operational excellence 

• Establish KPIs and operational metrics around playback quality, latency, reliability, scalability, and customer experience 

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For: 

• 15+ years of experience in media technology, streaming, video platforms, or related digital product engineering environments 

• Proven experience building or scaling large-scale video streaming platforms supporting live and on-demand experiences 

• Deep expertise across modern streaming technologies, video workflows, playback systems, CDN architectures, and OTT ecosystems 

• Strong understanding of video monetization technologies including SSAI, CSAI, and ad-supported streaming models 

• Experience leading complex platform transformations and migrations across multiple products or brands 

• Demonstrated success leading and scaling high-performing engineering and platform organizations 

• Experience optimizing video quality, encoding workflows, streaming efficiency, and playback performance at scale 

• Ability to balance strategic thinking with technical depth and operational execution 

• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills with experience influencing executive stakeholders and distributed teams 

Bonus Points For: 

• Experience working within large-scale media, sports, entertainment, or direct-to-consumer streaming organizations 

• Familiarity with modern video platform ecosystems spanning playback, streaming infrastructure, ad insertion, analytics, and CDN technologies