Research Scientist/Engineer L5/L6, AI for Member Systems

Netflix

111d • $230,000 - $960,000

About The Position

Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with over 300 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. This job posting is inclusive of a variety of positions within our AI for Member Systems (AIMS) Engineering group. Based on your background, expertise and interests, we will route you to the appropriate team(s). All teams may not be hiring at the same time. At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world. That means connecting billions of people with movies, TV shows, and games they’ll love. To do this, we invest in deeply understanding our members and building world-class discovery and personalization experiences. Every time a member turns to Netflix, they’re relying on us to help them find their next favorite story—and delivering on that promise requires state-of-the-art machine learning and personalization models at a global scale. Applied Machine Learning Research at Netflix drives various aspects of our business, including personalization, recommendations, search, content understanding, messaging, targeting, new member acquisition, evidence, etc. As such, our research spans many Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning areas, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and other foundation models, deep learning, search and recommender systems, causal inference, reinforcement learning and bandits, computer vision, computer graphics, natural language processing, and computational advertising. We are seeking exceptional individuals to join our team as full-time Research Scientists. In this role, you will drive applied research by conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and validating innovative algorithmic solutions. Your work will involve exploring and applying state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques—including LLM pretraining, fine-tuning, and robust offline experimentation—while developing production-ready systems.

Requirements

• Ph. D or Masters in Computer Science, or any of the related fields.
• 6+ years of research experience with a track record of delivering quality results.
• Deep expertise in machine learning, including both supervised and unsupervised learning, and practical experience in LLM development.
• Demonstrated success in applying LLMs and other Foundation Models to real-world challenges, preferably with experience in post-training LLMs, including fine-tuning and distillation.
• Strong software engineering skills, including proficiency in Python, TensorFlow, and PyTorch.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Java, Scala, Spark, Hive, Jax, Flink, Hadoop.
• Proven experience as a technical leader.
• Skilled in collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Research publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences on relevant topics.
• Hands-on experience in distributed training, reinforcement learning-based training of LLMs, conversational agents, and Personalization.
• Proficiency with cloud computing platforms and large web-scale distributed systems.
• Applied research experience in industrial settings.
• Contributions to open source contributions.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: search, natural language processing, knowledge graphs, conversational agents, personalization, and reinforcement learning.

Responsibilities

• Drive applied research by conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and validating innovative algorithmic solutions.
• Explore and apply state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques, including LLM pretraining, fine-tuning, and robust offline experimentation.
• Develop production-ready systems.

Benefits

• Health Plans
• Mental Health support
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer match
• Stock Option Program
• Disability Programs
• Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts
• Family-forming benefits
• Life and Serious Injury Benefits
• Paid leave of absence programs
• Full-time hourly employees accrue 35 days annually for paid time off to be used for vacation, holidays, and sick paid time off.
• Full-time salaried employees are immediately entitled to flexible time off.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees