Research Scientist (L5) – Edge

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with 278 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

The Role

How do you spark joy in hundreds of millions of people? It starts with a vision – that technology can give voice to stories around the world. In delivering those much-loved stories, Netflix is responsible for a significant portion of global internet traffic.

To steward that responsibility, we work collaboratively with ISPs to deploy Open Connect, Netflix’s Content Delivery Network (CDN), which delivers 100% of Netflix’s video traffic.  Our team’s mission is to support that delivery by ensuring the smooth coordination and operation of the Open Connect Appliances (OCAs) deployed by the thousands around the world, to provide a fantastic viewing experience for all Netflix members.  We are looking for exceptional individuals to work full-time with us as research scientists. In this role, you will conduct applied research by conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and validating potential improvements to Open Connect. 

The Role

You will be charged with building a deep understanding of Open Connect’s architecture, operational behavior and delivery flows.  You will then self-identify impactful ideas for improvement in availability, scalability, efficiency and performance and drive learnings to validate the feasibility of these ideas. Our platform is a fundamental building block to our streaming initiatives – providing critical solutions for one of the world’s largest CDNs and empowering stakeholders to operate the CDN more efficiently and reliably. In this position, you will have the opportunity to work in a wide variety of areas, such as:

• Designing, implementing and executing experiments with the systems that efficiently manage and deliver large, small and dynamic assets from a wide variety of network locations
• Identify new problems or inefficiencies, and solutions to support the Netflix business’s needs for fast, reliable delivery of new media content
• Identify new problems or inefficiencies, and solutions to support and manage Netflix cloud gaming appliances
• Rapidly iterate in the arena of Live video streaming to enable a unique scale of delivery to end-users

You Are

• Someone who likes to work hands-on and self-direct in a fast-paced environment that gives you great freedom and responsibility
• Able to see beyond immediate issues, can summarize requirements, and architect forward-looking solutions that cross multiple applications
• Capable of working in a highly-collaborative environment alongside your teammates, engineers, Partner Engagement Managers, project managers, and operations teams
• Articulate in communicating opportunities for continuous improvements to existing systems with a clear understanding of the impact on the business.
• Always striving to ideate, measure and evaluate in measured increments while taking responsibility for the quality of your work.

Required Skills

• PhD or Masters in Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• A burning desire to solve real-world problems at scale.
• 5+ years of applied research experience with a track record of delivering quality results.
• Experience in applied research in industrial settings.
• Knowledge of CDN architecture and networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS, BGP)
• Strong mathematical and problem-solving skills with knowledge of statistical methods.
• Excellent software engineering skills in Python, C++, PERL or Java.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Bonus Skills

• Experience as a technical leader.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms and large web-scale distributed systems.
• Open source contributions.
• Research publications at peer reviewed journals and conferences on relevant topics.

Does this sound interesting? Or does this sound interesting but intimidating? Please don’t self-select out, let’s figure it out together. We’d love to talk to you!

Netflix is a global company with a diverse member base, which is why the content we produce reflects that: global perspectives and global stories. As we grow globally, we must have the most talented employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and experiences to support our innovation and creativity. We are an equal-opportunity employer and strive to build balanced teams from all walks of life.

Our culture is unique, and we tend to live by our values, so it’s worth learning more about Netflix here.

At Netflix, we carefully consider a wide range of compensation factors to determine your personaltop of market. We rely on market indicators to determine compensation and consider your specific job, skills, and experience to get it right. These considerations can cause your compensation to vary and will also be dependent on your location. 

The overall market range for roles in this area of Netflix is typically  $100,000 – $700,000

This market range is based on total compensation (vs. only base salary), which is in line with our compensation philosophy. Netflix is a unique culture and environment. Learn more here. 

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity of thought and background builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.

Job is open for no less than 7 days and will be removed when the position is filled.