Software Engineer 5 - Product Localization

Netflix•Los Gatos, CA

6d•$388,000 - $558,000

About The Position

Localization at Netflix isn't simply about translation. It's how we make stories feel native to audiences around the world. Every subtitle, dub, title treatment, artwork, and localized experience helps millions of members connect with content in their own language and culture. The Product Localization Engineering team is reimagining how localization works at Netflix. We build the platforms, products, and AI-powered systems that enable translation, cultural adaptation, and localization workflows at a global scale. You'll own some of Product Localization's most ambitious initiatives from concept through launch. You'll define how work gets done, create clarity in ambiguity, and partner across engineering, product, design, and business to drive alignment, navigate tradeoffs, and deliver meaningful business outcomes. We're especially excited to meet people who have built AI-native products and agentic workflows. This includes designing systems where AI agents coordinate work, humans remain in the loop where appropriate, and workflows are orchestrated reliably at scale. Experience with durable workflow orchestration, event-driven architectures, distributed systems, and resilient automation is highly valued. You'll help shape platforms that can reason, coordinate, recover from failures, and continuously improve while operating reliably in production. This is an opportunity to transform localization into an AI-native platform—rethinking how agents, workflows, automation, and human expertise come together so Netflix can deliver world-class localized experiences to members around the globe.

Requirements

7+ years of experience building resilient, high-scale, low-latency systems in production environments
Experience building AI-native products, agentic workflows, or intelligent automation in production.
Familiarity with architectural patterns for reliable AI systems, including durable workflow orchestration, event-driven architectures, and resilient distributed systems
Hands-on experience with Java or a similar OO language, with a strong understanding of distributed systems, concurrency, performance tuning, and observability
Proficiency in designing and implementing gRPC, GraphQL, or RESTful APIs
Proven track record of architecting, building, and operating highly available, fault-tolerant production systems
Experience leading complex software engineering initiatives from concept through launch, driving execution across multiple engineering teams and cross-functional partners
Experience making technical tradeoffs, facilitating engineering discussions, and driving architectural decisions
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build alignment across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Embrace AI as part of your engineering craft and have fundamentally changed how you build software by incorporating AI into your daily workflow.
Continuously evolve your workflow, quickly adopt new capabilities, and know how to pair human judgment with AI, and use it to move faster without compromising quality.
Product-minded: care as much about solving the right problem as building the right solution and aren't afraid to challenge assumptions when you see a better path.
Thrive in ambiguity and have a track record of leading 0-to-1 initiatives.
Take ownership of outcomes, not just execution.
Identify risks early, remove blockers, and do whatever it takes to help the team succeed.
Have excellent judgment and know how to balance customer value, technical quality, operational excellence, and speed.
Build trust through transparency, clear communication, and consistent follow-through, and are comfortable influencing without direct authority.
Create momentum: know when to drive alignment, when to make a decision, and when to move forward despite ambiguity.

Responsibilities

Own some of Product Localization's most ambitious initiatives from concept through launch.
Define how work gets done.
Create clarity in ambiguity.
Partner across engineering, product, design, and business to drive alignment, navigate tradeoffs, and deliver meaningful business outcomes.
Help shape platforms that can reason, coordinate, recover from failures, and continuously improve while operating reliably in production.