Bring iconic stories to the world with WarnerMedia Ottawa

Feb 23, 2022

5 mins | 930 words
By: Randy Gaudreau

While it’s a great time to enjoy video content as a viewer, for companies, implementing and delivering media across an ever-growing list of platforms is more challenging than ever.

In 2018, Ottawa’s You.i TV set out to help media companies with this challenge by introducing its flagship Engine One Software Development Kit (SDK). Through a single code base, You.i Engine One helped simplify the design, development, and delivery of video apps across platforms allowing developers to be more efficient and flexible.

General Manager of WarnerMedia Ottawa Don Liberty was part of the original team that got You.i TV off the ground in Ottawa and helped grow it.

Now just over one year after it joined the WarnerMedia family, he’s pretty excited to talk about the projects in the works and on the horizon and growing the WarnerMedia Ottawa team to help bring the brand’s storytelling to people’s screens around the world.

“Ottawa is one group, but we work really closely with all the other international and US groups,” he said. “It’s definitely a global company and when you work on these teams, you’re not just working with Ottawa staff, it’s very much a collaborative project.”

Be part of exciting and challenging global projects

Don offered a breakdown of some of the exciting direct-to-consumer projects underway that will mean more opportunities for tech talent to join the growing WarnerMedia Ottawa team.

• HBO Max: Launched in May of 2020 in the United States, the subscription-based, video-on-demand streaming service currently has 73.8 million subscribers in over 46 countries and is going through a re-platforming to be more flexible and performant as the company continues to scale globally.“HBO Max is a big push and will continue to be,” he said. “The current plan is to get to about 67 different global territories by the end of 2022. So, there’s lots of growth and our team is actively working with all of those regions and those application platforms.”

• CNN+: A new direct-to-consumer platform set to be launched by WarnerMedia in the spring of 2022, which as Don says WarnerMedia Ottawa team members will have a chance to work on, including a large role in connected TV applications.

• Set-Top Boxes: As part of the team’s work around HBO Max, there’s an opportunity to focus on delivering content through a certain section of devices called set-top boxes. Commonly known as cable boxes, these are still primarily responsible in some areas around the world for delivering content. To allow HBO Max to reach new areas, the technology team will be working to bring the You.i Engine One software to set-top boxes around the world.“This is a much more technical process and bigger challenge, but one that we’re up to and we’re excited about,” said Don.

Hiring full steam ahead in Ottawa

While pandemic conditions have slowed growth for some companies, Don said that there’s plenty of room and a drive to expand the team of 200 to help deliver on WarnerMedia Ottawa’s key projects.

“We have a lot of open positions, so it’s pedal to the metal in terms of hiring and growth,” he said. “Our challenge, really like everyone else’s, is attracting and finding the right talent.”

For WarnerMedia Ottawa’s Director of People Operations Sarah D’Angelo, the global brand has drawn excitement from tech talent in Ottawa looking to be part of the team.

“It’s pretty exciting for folks to think about being part of bringing best-in-class storytelling and brands to viewers, and bringing that to people’s screens,” she said. “We’re really continuing to grow and focused on building a team of professionals doing really innovative and challenging work.”

According to Sarah, WarnerMedia Ottawa is opening up a wave of additional tech positions across a broad range of experience levels to accommodate its growth. Currently, the focus is finding software developers, including C++, RN and JavaScript developers, as well as QA, and technical program managers.

What’s on offer at WarnerMedia

Along with competitive compensation packages and opportunities for growth, positions throughout the pandemic have been offered with flexibility in mind, with employees often working remotely when needed.

The WarnerMedia Ottawa office also created the Culture Guild, an initiative that grew to become part of HBO, which gives staff a chance to interact through non-work-related engagement opportunities. These can be as simple as getting together for a small Valentine’s Day chocolate tasting or going to a drive-in movie together.

“At the end of the day, we are WarnerMedia and we love our content,” Don said. “So, these activities have certainly helped us stay connected while we’re at home working.”

More growth to come for WarnerMedia Ottawa

But while get-togethers can be fun, the potential for WarnerMedia Ottawa, and building the team is what’s really exciting according to Don.

“There’s a lot of growth here,” he said. “Not only are we the best-in-class storytellers with our content, but we also want to be the best technology company in the streaming space. There’s so much to do and explore in this field, and there’s a lot of fun stuff ahead in terms of challenging and leading what the industry is doing.”

“We have the opportunity to lead,” he added. “And we want a team that is able to lead here in Ottawa.”

Are you looking to join the growing WarnerMedia Ottawa team? Visit its careers page here to see opportunities currently open in the region. New positions are added regularly so check back often.

For career opportunities with other fast-growing tech companies in Ottawa, sign up to join the Work in Ottawa talent pool, and get on our recruiters’ radars. You never know when the phone might ring!