Senior backend/full-stack engineer building Netflix's in-house media planning platform for ads

This role sits on the new Media Planning team inside Netflix's Ads Platform Engineering org, building first-party tools, APIs, and services that let advertisers and internal partners plan, allocate, and optimize media investments across Netflix. It's a senior (SWE5) position requiring backend/frontend cloud development plus real domain knowledge of ad tech media-planning workflows, from RFP/pre-sales through campaign activation.

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What this interview tests

Building first-party APIs/tools driven by real-time data for media planning or allocation workflows
End-to-end media planning lifecycle: RFP/pre-sales through inventory allocation and campaign activation
Full-stack cloud development on AWS with Java/Spring Boot, React, GraphQL, Node.js
Distributed systems, microservices, NoSQL, and Kafka-based messaging at scale
Delivering transparency/insights on plan performance to advertisers and internal stakeholders
Operating in a new, fast-paced, ambiguous team building a market-differentiating CTV ads product

Common question themes

Design a system that turns advertiser objectives into an allocated, actionable media plan

How would you build an API that gives advertisers real-time visibility into media plan performance

Describe a distributed/microservice system you built on AWS and how Kafka or another queue fit in

Tell me about operating in high ambiguity on a brand-new team — how did you scope and ship

What do you know about the pre-sales-to-delivery workflow in advertising and where it tends to break

How would you apply AI/ML to recommend targeting, channel, or budget decisions in a sales workflow

How candidates describe it

Real Software Engineering 5 - Ads Media Planning interview stories — retold from candidates' public write-ups, with sources.

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