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NETFLIX · STAFF SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Netflix staff engineer interview

The staff and principal software engineer level at Netflix is L6 Staff, L7 Principal, for staff, principal and senior staff engineers. 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.

Track my Netflix prep
Netflix titleL6 Staff, L7 Principal
ExperienceStaff, principal and senior staff engineers
Interviews after screeningAbout 7
System design roundYes

The Staff Software Engineer 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 Staff Software Engineer: Frequently a hiring-manager conversation about scope and impact instead of pure coding.

  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 Staff Software Engineer: One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

  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 Staff Software Engineer: Strategy, influence without authority and the biggest bets you have made.

  4. Coding (DSA) · 45 min

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

    At Staff Software Engineer: One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

  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 Staff Software Engineer: Two rounds at many companies. Expected to handle ambiguity, cost, operations and cross-team trade-offs, and to change the design when the interviewer pushes.

  6. Team-specific round · 45 min

    Some senior loops add a concurrency, debugging, craftsmanship or operations round chosen by the team.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Presentations or deep dives on multi-quarter work that crossed teams.

  7. Behavioral × 2 · 45 min

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

    At Staff Software Engineer: Expected scope: org-wide impact, setting direction, hard trade-offs with leadership.

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 Staff Software Engineer

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

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 Staff Software Engineer

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 Staff Software Engineer interview?

About 7 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, coding (dsa), hiring manager, system design (hld), team-specific round, behavioral.

Is there a system design round for Netflix Staff Software Engineer?

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 Staff Software Engineer?

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 Staff Software Engineer?

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

Staff Software Engineer interviews at other companies

Staff Software Engineer interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions