Machine Learning Scientist 6 - Ads Member Understanding

At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world. Together, we are writing the next episode - pushing the boundaries of storytelling, global fandom and making the unimaginable a reality. We are a dream team obsessed with the uncomfortable excitement of discovering what happens when you merge creativity, intuition and cutting-edge technology. Come be a part of what’s next. We launched a new ad-supported tier in November 2022 and are building an in-house, world-class ad tech ecosystem to give our members more choices in how they enjoy Netflix. This tier lets us attract new members at a lower price point while creating a compelling path for advertisers to reach deeply engaged audiences. ## Our Team This role sits within the Ad Ranking org inside Ads Data Science and Engineering (DSE). Ad Ranking's key areas of focus span Identity Matching, Audience & Targeting, User Understanding, Relevance & Engagement Prediction, and Bidding & Pacing - the ML systems that decide which ad reaches which member, and when. We're hiring a Machine Learning Scientist 6 to lead our user understanding charter. This person will leverage Netflix’s rich multimodal signals and LLM techniques to build a user-understanding foundation for the ads team. It will be used both as a feature foundation for ad targeting, ranking, and bidding. They'll also shape our 1P and 3P data strategy as the platform evolves, and will have latitude to partner across the broader Ads ML org. Responsibilities * Set the technical direction for user understanding by leveraging multimodal signals - from content, viewing behavior, and context. * Shape and land Netflix's data strategy for a fast-growing team, partnering with privacy, legal, and platform engineering to build a data foundation that scales. * Partner with the ranking, bidding & pacing teams to get user-understanding signals into production and drive downstream impact. * Build rigorous online and offline evaluation frameworks to quantify the incremental value of new signals, representations, and models. * Communicate technical strategy, trade-offs, and results to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership ​Qualifications * Advanced degree (PhD or Master's) in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent industry experience. * 7+ years of industry experience building and shipping production ML systems at scale, with demonstrated staff/senior-staff-level scope and impact. * Track record building user or audience understanding systems - embeddings, representation learning, identity resolution, or similar - ideally in a monetization or ads context. * Hands-on experience applying LLM to user modeling, content understanding, or recommendation, with good judgment on where these approaches beat traditional methods. * Influence 1P/3P data strategy, privacy-aware data usage, or identity/targeting infrastructure is a strong plus. * A track record of setting technical direction and influencing roadmap across teams; experience as a vertical or xfn technical lead is a strong plus. * Proficiency in Python, Scala, or Java, and experience prototyping and deploying models on large-scale production data. * Strong business acumen and the ability to translate technical results into business impact. * Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills. 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 $600,000.00 - $1,066,000.00. 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. Learn more here. 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. 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. Job is open for no less than 7 days and will be removed when the position is filled.