Software Engineer (L6) - Compute Node Runtime

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced staff engineer to drive the Node Runtime team’s charter, guide engineering work for the team, and break new ground with hands-on innovation on the hardest technical challenges. You will be part of the team of engineers with a mission to drive innovation in effective, reliable computing at Netflix, and to bring that innovation back to the OSS world.

This team tackles some of the largest cloud compute challenges in the industry. The team owns the Kubernetes data plane software and the container runtime, and we make sure the environment on every Kubernetes node is set up for Netflix Cloud applications to run reliably and with minimal effort.

The team partners with many other teams within Netflix to ensure we stay ahead of the business's needs and enable other teams to innovate on top of our platform.

You will be amongst the stunning set of engineers who tackle some of the largest Cloud Compute challenges in the industry. We are moving quickly to support critical business initiatives. You will own key pieces of the Cloud Compute infrastructure and be able to directly trace your work to meaningful business impact, all while working on extremely high-scale systems only found at a handful of companies.

Some examples of the team’s work can be found in tech blogs on

“noisy neighbor” detection and mount lock contention.

What you will do

Deliver compute platform capabilities and drive adoption across Netflix with a focus on engineering excellence, decisive execution,a spirit of bold experimentation, and tight alignment with business context.

You are an expert in building scalable and extensible compute platforms, and even better at working with other experts. You form strong cross-functional partnerships driven by trust, embracing a highly aligned and loosely coupled approach with many engineering teams, ensuring our solutions meet their needs while maintaining our focus on agility, scalability, reliability, and efficiency.

• Set the example for operational excellence on the team and across Compute, continuously improving incident response, on-call, and other operational practices.
• Maintain currency on, if not create, industry trends for new architectures, features, and off-the-shelf services; guide the team’s decision-making on incorporating industry trends.

You recognize industry trends early and stay ahead of them in new architectures, features, and off-the-shelf services, while guiding the team's decisions on when and how to adopt them. Identifying trends matters, but you go further: driven by a passion to learn from and contribute to the open-source world, you keep a pulse on it to shape and forecast the direction of technology.

• Evangelize and embody
• Netflix’s culture

Desired Skills & Experience

• A proven track record of architecting and implementing large-scale distributed systems that define and modify infrastructure at 100M+ user scale.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with strong relationship-building ability.
• Passion for technology and the ability to jump into an ambiguous area and break down complex problems.
• Demonstrated technical leadership to empower the team around you and get the most from diverse stakeholders, including product managers, peer engineers across Netflix, and more.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and how to abstract away its' complexities.
• Experience with Golang, Java, and/or Python.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities effectively.

You will be successful in this role if you

• You enjoy operating in an environment where there are rarely obvious choices, and decision-making requires a balance of correctness, speed, and uncertainty. You have opinions but are also open to strong feedback.
• You are able to execute strategically in the short-term while thinking long-term.
• Have the ability to define and self-manage cross-functional projects fueled by ambiguous questions.
• You take pride in your work and the work your team delivers, and you always think at a team and business level. You bring an uncomfortably exciting mindset and are comfortable with risk in pursuit of the exceptional.

Pay and benefits

Generally, our compensation structure consists solely of an annual salary; we do not have bonuses. You choose each year how much of your compensation you want in salary versus stock options. To determine your personal top of market compensation, we rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, skills, and experience to determine your compensation in the market range. The range for this role is $499,000.00 - $900,000.00. This compensation range will vary based on location.

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. We also offer 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. See more details about our Benefits here.

Netflix is a unique culture and environment.

Inclusion is a Netflix value and we strive to host a meaningful interview experience for all candidates. If you want an accommodation/adjustment for a disability or any other reason during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully.

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