Research Engineer, Machine Learning L6

Netflix, Inc.; Los Gatos (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 990,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health plans

401(k) retirement plan with employer match

Flexible time off

Paid leave of absence programs

Job summary

Netflix, Inc. is seeking exceptional applied machine learning engineers to advance state-of-the-art Search and Recommendation experiences. You will be responsible for aligning algorithms and developing improvements to enhance member satisfaction.

The ideal candidate will have strong software development skills, expertise in LLMs, and experience with large-scale recommender systems. Netflix offers an annual salary range of $100,000 – $990,000 along with comprehensive benefits including health plans and paid time off.

Qualifications

• Solid software development skills and a proven track record of delivering quality results.
• Experience with large-scale recommender systems and reward modeling.
• Expertise in training, fine-tuning, aligning, and evaluating LLMs.

Responsibilities

• Align algorithms to deliver high-quality recommendations.
• Conceptualize and implement engineering improvements.
• Develop tools for model alignment and evaluation.

Skills

Software development skills

Experience with large-scale recommender systems

Proficiency in Python and Java

Problem-solving skills

Experience with RLHF and model quality evaluation

Strong communication abilities

Education

Graduate degree in Computer Science, Statistics, or related field

Tools

Spark

TensorFlow

Keras

PyTorch

Job description

Overview

Fast‑paced innovation in the theory and practice of large language models (LLMs) is greatly helping to advance state‑of‑the‑art Search and Recommendation experiences. We are looking for exceptional applied machine learning engineers to help us develop technology to power future member experiences using the latest advances related to LLMs.

Responsibilities

• Align and evaluate member‑facing algorithms to deliver high‑quality recommendations that maximize member satisfaction.
• Conceptualize, design, and implement engineering improvements that support the application of rewards to steer model outcomes.
• Develop tools for model alignment and evaluation, continuously enhancing quality metrics based on member feedback signals.
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional partners to translate research findings into production systems.

Qualifications

• Solid software development skills and a proven track record of delivering quality results.
• Experience with large‑scale recommender systems and reward modeling.
• Proficiency in developing standardized evaluation frameworks for context‑dependent systems.
• Expertise in training, fine‑tuning, aligning, and evaluating LLMs and other large foundation models.
• Hands‑on experience with RLHF, reward models, and model quality & evaluation.
• Strong problem‑solving and debugging skills applied to complex ML systems.
• Proficiency in languages such as Python and Java; familiarity with Spark, TensorFlow, Keras, and PyTorch.
• Experience with GPUs and distributed systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Graduate degree in Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.

Additional Experience

• Technical leadership or experience leading teams.
• Collaboration with cross‑functional teams in a production environment.
• Experience in Search, Recommendations, Natural Language Processing, Conversational Agents, or Personalization.
• Experience building tools and capabilities to test and evaluate model robustness.
• Exposure to cloud computing platforms and large web‑scale distributed systems.
• Active involvement in applied research within industrial settings.
• Open‑source contributions or research publications at peer‑reviewed journals or conferences.

Benefits

Annual salary range: $100,000 – $990,000. Netflix provides comprehensive benefits including health plans, mental health support, a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, stock option program, disability programs, health savings and flexible spending accounts, family‑forming benefits, and life and serious injury benefits. Paid leave of absence programs are available. Full‑time hourly employees accrue 35 days annually for paid time off, while full‑time salaried employees are immediately entitled to flexible time off.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Netflix is an equal‑opportunity employer and celebrates diversity, recognizing that bringing together different perspectives and backgrounds helps build stronger teams. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected characteristic.