Streaming giant Roku has announced the opening of its new Manchester office and plans to recruit for more than 50 engineering jobs by the end of 2022.
The American company, which also has UK offices in London, Cambridge and Cardiff, has revealed its new Manchester office is located at Bruntwood SciTech’s No.1 Circle Square in the city centre.
Aswell as recruiting for more than 50 engineering roles, Roku also plans to offer a three-month paid internship programme to aspiring software engineers in the region, tailored to each candidate’s skill-set.
The initial phase of recruitment will be focused on product engineers to work with Roku TV brand partners on developing Roku TV models.
The company, founded by CEO Anthony Wood who was born in Manchester, said the move to Manchester is ‘strategic’ in a bid to position Roku next to academic institutions and renowned digital innovators based in Circle Square.
Alastair McGeoch, Director of Software Engineering at Roku said: “Roku was founded on the belief that all TV will be streamed. We are looking for the right talent to continue to change how the world watches television. Manchester is a city steeped in engineering history and famed for its cultural impact on the world, so it is a natural fit for us. In Manchester, we will primarily focus on recruiting software engineering roles in 2022, with the ambition to increase the size of our team there in the next four years.
“Manchester is Roku’s fourth UK office, following London, Cambridge and Cardiff and has an incredible talent pool. Roku is proud to be joining the city’s newest neighbourhood and growing tech sector.”
Tim Newns, Chief Executive of MIDAS, Greater Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency, added: “It is incredibly exciting to have one of the world’s leading content streaming technology companies investing at such scale in Manchester. They join a wider software supply chain around content streaming that includes the likes of BBC iPlayer and Disney Streaming Services (formerly Cake Solutions) which makes this a growing area of specialism for the city region and at a time of extreme growth in that sector globally.”
