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NETFLIX · SDE 2

Netflix SDE 2 interview

The SDE 2 (mid-level software engineer) level at Netflix is L4 Software Engineer 4, for engineers with about 2 to 5 years of experience. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

From public candidate reports and Netflix's careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Netflix.

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Netflix titleL4 Software Engineer 4
ExperienceEngineers with about 2 to 5 years of experience
Interviews after screeningAbout 6
System design roundYes

The SDE 2 rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min

    A recruiter call on background and motivation, which also checks whether you know the culture memo.

    At SDE 2: One or two problems, a little faster. Some companies mix in a design question.

  2. Coding (DSA) · 60 min

    The technical screen is live coding, usually a practical problem tied to the team's domain rather than a puzzle.

    At SDE 2: Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

  3. Hiring manager · 45 min

    The hiring manager goes through your past work and team fit; on some teams this happens after team matching.

    At SDE 2: Ownership of features, handling production issues, working with product and other teams.

  4. Coding (DSA) · 45 min

    Onsite coding is practical and open-ended (caches, data modeling, concurrency) and builds on follow-up questions.

    At SDE 2: Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

  5. System design (HLD) · 60 min

    An open system design discussion, often framed around the team's own area such as ads, streaming or recommendations.

    At SDE 2: Present at most companies. A sound end-to-end design with sensible components and basic scaling is enough.

  6. Behavioral × 2 · 45 min

    Culture rounds test each value in the culture memo with real stories.

    At SDE 2: Stories should show you owning features end to end and handling conflict maturely.

What Netflix interviewers look for

Behavioral rounds are based on the Culture memo: Selflessness, Judgment, Candor, Creativity, Courage, Inclusion, Curiosity, Resilience. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Netflix SDE 2

Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

Difficulty
Topic
9 questions
  1. LRU Cache Medium Design Data Structures also Amazon, Microsoft, Apple +4
  2. Time Based Key-Value Store Medium Binary Search also Apple
  3. Course Schedule Medium Graphs also Google, Amazon, Uber +1
  4. Valid Parentheses Easy Stack also Apple
  5. Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock Easy Dynamic Programming also Amazon, Apple, Walmart Global Tech
  6. Merge Intervals Medium Intervals also LinkedIn, Atlassian, Oracle
  7. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Adobe, Flipkart
  8. Kth Largest Element in an Array Medium Heaps
  9. Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree Medium Trees & BST also Google, Meta, Atlassian +1

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at SDE 2

Design comes up from mid-level and gets heavier at L5 and above. It is open-ended and often tied to the team's domain; senior candidates lead the discussion and work through build-vs-buy, operational and failure trade-offs.

All Netflix system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Netflix SDE 2 interview?

About 6 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, coding (dsa), hiring manager, system design (hld), behavioral.

Is there a system design round for Netflix SDE 2?

Yes. Design comes up from mid-level and gets heavier at L5 and above. It is open-ended and often tied to the team's domain; senior candidates lead the discussion and work through build-vs-buy, operational and failure trade-offs.

What coding questions does Netflix ask at SDE 2?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: LRU Cache, Time Based Key-Value Store, Course Schedule, Valid Parentheses, Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock.

What does Netflix expect in coding rounds at SDE 2?

Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

SDE 2 interviews at other companies

SDE 2 interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions