Venkatesh Mandapati

Selected Work

Experience

1. Dec 2021 – PresentNewport, UK

   Nagra Media UK

   Senior iOS & React Native Developer

   OTT / Streaming

   I own native iOS and tvOS playback for OTT apps used by millions, and I build the SDKs underneath them, from the NMP Player to the UAV analytics SDK.

   • Led a UI migration from React Native to native Swift and SwiftUI, improving rendering performance by roughly 70%.
   • Designed a two-tier degradation strategy with backend teams across IAS, MDS, and Content Builder. I co-owned the API contracts and error semantics.
     • A full-screen "services down" state for a total outage.
     • A "limp mode" banner for partial failure.
   • Built the UAV SDK, a mobile analytics SDK. The data feeds into Tableau.
     • It attaches to AVPlayer and tracks startup time, latency, buffering, ABR, and errors.
     • It tracks the app itself: launch, screens, actions, and crashes.
   • Modified a React Native player library at the native iOS layer to fix playback behaviour the JavaScript layer could not reach.
   • Built Player-MCP: a SwiftUI AVPlayer test app with a debug HTTP bridge and a TypeScript MCP server. It lets AI agents inspect and drive live player state for automated analytics testing.
   • Shipped Apple Pay and Stripe payment flows, GDPR-compliant consent handling, and fixes for ad frequency capping and React Native text rendering.

   Worked on: Eurovision Sport · Claro tv+ · FIH · IBU · NMP Player SDK · UAV SDK

   Stack: Swift, SwiftUI, tvOS, AVPlayer, FairPlay DRM, React Native, TypeScript, Conviva, Mux

2. Mar 2025 – 2026Remote

   token.com

   Principal Engineer, contract

   Fintech / Crypto

   I led engineering on a consumer Solana wallet app and worked directly with the CEO on product direction.

   • Led a team of five engineers building deposits, withdrawals, and gasless trade execution.
   • Defined idempotency and consistency guarantees with the backend team, so money-movement flows stayed correct under retries and failures.
   • Worked with the CEO daily, then twice weekly, shaping product direction and delivery priorities.
   • Owned wallet security on the client: Keychain, secure storage, and transaction-signing flows.

   Stack: React Native, TypeScript, Swift, Solana, Keychain

3. Mar 2021 – Sep 2021Bangalore, India

   Conviva

   Senior Integration Engineer, iOS / tvOS / JS

   Streaming Analytics

   I worked on the Conviva SDK and partnered with 12–14 of the world's biggest streaming services to improve playback quality and meet their monetisation goals.

   • Managed integrations for 12–14 major streaming clients across the UK, Europe, and North America.
   • Worked with client engineering teams to turn analytics SDK data into playback improvements in startup time, rebuffering, and error rates.
   • Contributed to Conviva SDK development across a footprint of 300+ devices and players.

   Worked on: DAZN · HBO Max · NBA · Discovery · Mediaset · RTL · OSN · Sony

   Stack: Swift, Objective-C, tvOS, JavaScript, AVPlayer, Analytics SDKs

4. Dec 2020 – Feb 2023Tokyo, Japan

   LiveSmart KK / Senior Life.AI

   Lead Developer, iOS

   AI Health / IoT

   I was the sole iOS engineer on two live App Store products, an AI gait-analysis app and a smart-home control app, while leading a wider team of five.

   • Senior Life.AI: built the on-device video capture pipeline feeding a Mayo Clinic-trained AI gait-analysis backend, covering 9,000+ lives.
   • LiveSmart IoT: built smart-home control over BLE and MQTT, supporting 180+ device types.
   • Owned both apps end to end: architecture, UI, and App Store releases.

   Stack: Swift, AVFoundation, CoreBluetooth, MQTT, Firebase

5. Jul 2017 – Mar 2021Bangalore, India

   Nagra Vision

   Senior Developer and Technical Lead

   OTT / Streaming

   I built Nagra's player foundations from first principles and led the team delivering OTT apps for operators worldwide. The ION platform shipped to 10M+ users.

   • Built a custom tvOS video player on AVPlayer from scratch.
     • Clear content first.
     • Then performance, low latency, error handling, and ABR.
     • Then encrypted content with FairPlay DRM, using AVContentKeySession and SPC/CKC.
   • Extended the DRM work to Android with ExoPlayer and Widevine.
   • Helped develop the NMP Player SDK for iOS, tvOS, and React Native, used by operators.
   • Led a team of about 10 engineers in 2019 while staying hands-on in the codebase.
   • Integrated Mux analytics into OTT apps in 2019, when Mux was still a small team.

   Worked on: Claro tv+ · Eutelsat · TransAM · SVRA · Jackson · Gibson

   Stack: Swift, Objective-C, tvOS, AVPlayer, FairPlay, HLS, ExoPlayer, Widevine

6. Dec 2016 – Jul 2017India

   IBM India / DBS Digibank

   Senior System Analyst

   Banking

   I built regulated mobile banking features for DBS Digibank, a digital-only bank.

   • Shipped accounts, transfers, and transaction history, including Face ID and Touch ID.
   • Implemented OAuth 2.0 and JWT authentication backed by the Secure Enclave.
   • Worked on fraud detection and Open Banking integrations in a regulated environment.

   Stack: Objective-C, Swift, OAuth 2.0, JWT, Secure Enclave

7. Jan 2015 – Nov 2016India

   Aricent

   Senior iOS Developer

   Wearables / BLE

   I built Bluetooth LE connectivity for smartwatches and automotive clients.

   • Worked with Intel on launching the Titan Juxt Pro smartwatch, and demonstrated the BLE connection stability that won the project.
   • Delivered CoreBluetooth work for Fossil smartwatches and Volkswagen.

   Worked on: Titan Juxt Pro · Fossil Smartwatch · Volkswagen

   Stack: Objective-C, CoreBluetooth, UIKit

8. Apr 2013 – Dec 2014India

   R2 International

   iOS Developer

   Mobile

   Where it started: building native iOS apps in Objective-C.

   Stack: Objective-C, UIKit

Engineering

• Swift
• SwiftUI
• Objective-C
• React Native
• iOS
• tvOS
• AVPlayer / HLS
• FairPlay DRM
• OTT / Video Streaming
• Payments
• Mobile banking
• Crypto & Trading
• IoT / BLE
• Health AI
• OAuth & App Security
• MVVM
• Server-Driven UI
• XCTest
• CI/CD
• MCP / AI Testing

Contact

venkatesh.mandapati@gmail.com+44 7879 932266LinkedInGitHubMedium