Engineering Manager - Live Ads Supply

Netflix, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 436,000 - 791,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Plans and Mental Health support

401(k) Retirement Plan with employer match

Stock Option Program

Paid time off programs

Job summary

Netflix, Inc. is seeking a qualified leader for its live ad insertion platform in New York. The successful candidate will oversee a team dedicated to building reliable, real-time ad experiences across various live formats, including sports and news.

Your expertise in streaming technologies and ad architectures will be crucial. Compensation ranges from $436,000 to $791,000 annually, along with benefits like stock options and health plans.

Qualifications

• Experience managing software engineering teams in live media or ad tech contexts.
• Hands-on experience with ad insertion architectures like SSAI and CSAI.
• Strong understanding of decisioning latency budgets and ad server interaction.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team building real-time infrastructure for live ad insertion.
• Own reliability and operational excellence during live events.
• Drive hiring and development of high-performing engineering teams.

Skills

Live streaming pipelines

Ad insertion architectures

Broadcast signaling

High-availability engineering

Communication skills

Education

10+ years of engineering experience

3+ years of managing teams

Tools

RTMP

SRT

SSAI

VAST 4.x

Job description

At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world. We are building a live ad insertion platform that delivers high‑reliability, real‑time ad experiences across live and linear streams, from prime‑time events like the NFL and live sports to 24/7 linear feeds and breaking news.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of engineers building the real‑time infrastructure, tooling, and operational systems for live ad insertion across server‑side, client‑side, and server‑guided delivery models.
• Own the reliability and operational excellence of ad insertion during 24/7 linear streams and high‑stakes live events, including NFL games, live sports, and awards shows.
• Define the technical roadmap for live ad insertion, including SCTE signal ingestion and validation, ad pod management, manifest stitching, slate handling, and ad decisioning integration.
• Partner with ad operations, broadcast engineering, content delivery, and ad serving teams to ensure seamless signal‑to‑slot execution from ingest to client playback.
• Drive hiring, retention, and development of a high‑performing engineering team capable of operating in a demanding live environment.
• Establish the on‑call and incident response culture for live ad systems, setting SLAs and runbooks for break‑glass scenarios during high‑profile live events.
• Contextualize your team's larger advertising strategy and translate business priorities into a technically sound, executable plan.
• Serve as the technical authority in cross‑functional discussions on live ad capabilities, representing the team to leadership, partners, and vendors.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of total engineering experience with 3+ years managing software engineering teams in a live media, streaming, or ad tech context.
• Deep hands‑on experience with live streaming pipelines (from ingest protocols like RTMP, SRT, or TS through to CDN) and ad insertion architectures, including SSAI, CSAI, and SGAI (HLS interstitials/DASH).
• Expertise in broadcast signaling (SCTE‑35, SCTE‑104, SCTE‑224) and manifest manipulation for ad stitching, alongside familiarity with master control and linear playout systems.
• Advanced knowledge of managing live break constraints, including slate/fallback handling, break reconciliation, and encoding constraints (codec/bitrate matching, frame rate alignment) to prevent playback artifacts.
• Strong understanding of ad servers, DSPs, and VAST 4.x/VMAP in live contexts, with a focus on managing strict decisioning latency budgets, timeout handling, tracking event firing, and mitigating the cascading effects of decision failures.
• Proven track record of engineering for high‑availability, zero‑downtime live events, including building operational tooling for ad ops (real‑time fill rate tracking, signal health visualization, and break monitoring workflows).
• Strong track record of hiring and developing senior engineers in competitive talent markets.
• Ability to operate in a flat, fast‑moving organization, balancing long‑term architectural investments against immediate operational needs.
• Effective communicator across both technical and business stakeholders, including ad sales, ad operations, broadcast engineering, and executive leadership.
• Experience collaborating with content and distribution partners, including MVPDs, vMVPDs, and broadcast networks, on joint live ad insertion implementations.

Compensation

The range for this role is $436,000.00 – $791,000.00. The compensation structure consists solely of an annual salary; we do not have bonuses. To determine your personal top‑of‑market compensation, we rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, skills, and experience.

Benefits

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

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Netflix is an equal‑opportunity employer and celebrates diversity. 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.

Access for Disability

If you need an accommodation or adjustment during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.