Machine Learning Scientist (L4/5) - Media Understanding, Content & Media ML Foundations

Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with 283 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

To meet our members’ entertainment needs, Netflix has invested in scaled Content Production & Promotion workflows. With assistance from creative supervision and member feedback data, we have built tools & processes that use technologies like Computer Vision, Graphics, Machine Learning & Generative Algorithms to enable our creators to tell the best version of the story they want while allowing our studio to scale further.

The Content & Media ML Foundations team within Data Science and Engineering, builds and delivers high-leverage foundational ML solutions using Netflix’s unique media data, driving impact across content creation and promotion, member personalization and advertising (Ads). Our work advances multi-modal content understanding, and we conduct exploratory research on generative models to drive long-term innovations in filmmaking and media intelligence.

We are looking for an ML scientist to drive innovations in multimodal representation learning and help shape the future of content intelligence at Netflix.

Responsibilities

• Build ML models that push state-of-the-art either using Netflix’s unique multimodal dataset or algorithmic innovations or both.

• Design and implement state-of-the-art machine learning models for visual, audio and textual data.

• Optimize model performance while ensuring computational efficiency and scalability within Netflix’s infrastructure. Deploy and scale models using PyTorch and Netflix’s ML infrastructure.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers and data scientists, to define problem statements, shape roadmaps and execute on priorities. 

• Engage with the ML community (at Netflix, and outside) through research and conference participation.

• Communicate complex concepts and the results of analyses with both technical and non-technical stakeholders to influence strategic decisions.

• (Optional) If experienced in generative modeling, explore its intersection with media understanding (e.g., latent space manipulation for embeddings).

About You

• You have a strong foundation in machine learning, deep learning, and multimodal representation learning.

• You have experience with self-supervised learning, contrastive loss, and transformer architectures.

• You are proficient in PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX, with experience deploying models at scale.

• You hold a PhD or MS in CS, AI, or a related field, with relevant research or applied experience.

• You have a strong track record of solving complex problems with innovative solutions, developing novel algorithms, and adapting existing methods to new challenges.

• You are an excellent communicator, capable of explaining complex technical details to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• You thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments and contribute positively to team collaboration and company culture.

• (Bonus) You have expertise in generative models, controllability, or latent space manipulation.

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 $150,000 - $750,000.

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. 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 detail about our Benefits 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.