Software Engineer in Test 5 - Apple Player

Netflix

📍Los Gatos, CA
Posted May 21, 2026

Job Overview

Position

Software Engineer in Test 5 - Apple Player

Company

Netflix

Location

Los Gatos, CA

Work Type

On-site

Job ID

li-4413668216

Job Description

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.

Who We Are
Our team implements the Netflix Player that delivers Netflix content to our users on iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV — but we do not build the UI. We're responsible for everything required to deliver a seamless streaming experience once a member presses play. This includes building an HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) playlist, fetching a FairPlay license to decrypt DRM protected content, seamlessly inserting Ads, streaming Live events, supporting multiple Audio and Subtitle tracks, securely transmitting data, and much more.

Our work includes driving measurable improvements to our members' streaming experience as well as building out new features to support innovative product experiences. As part of our day-to-day work, we collaborate with UI engineering and product teams, Apple, content and studio engineering, and data experts to deliver video playback to every part of the Netflix experience on Apple devices.

Who You Are

  • Highly experienced ensuring the quality of consumer-facing iOS/iPadOS/tvOS applications at scale with Swift and Objective-C, and deeply curious about Audio and Video and how streaming at Netflix works. Experience with HLS, Media Playback, or AVPlayer is a bonus.

  • A champion for automation and testing, with the software engineering chops to build the tools, frameworks, and infrastructure that make automation possible — not just consume them.

  • Experienced applying AI tooling in a testing context — you've built and used AI-assisted workflows to generate tests, triage failures, analyze flakiness, or close coverage gaps, and you bring that experience to bear on quality problems rather than waiting for tools to be handed to you.

  • Comfortable drawing the line between what should be automated and what should remain manual, and able to defend that line with data and judgment rather than dogma.

  • Open and proactive communicator who shares context, ideas, and feedback while engaging in active listening — drives collaboration across platform and team boundaries, whether with our UI and TVUI counterparts, fellow Player engineers on Android and TV, product managers, or data science partners.

  • Passionate about testing at every layer of the stack — not just XCUI end-to-end automation, but component, integration, and unit testing as well. You use your experience and judgment to find the right testing solution wherever it lives and influence other engineers on the team to adopt the right approach. Proven experience influencing team quality culture and driving test strategy decisions.

  • Systems thinker who can reason through the interactions of complex systems and services and understand technical tradeoffs, especially in a domain where playback issues are often emergent and hard to reproduce.

  • Scientific thinker who can define hypotheses and use data to reason about test results — we run a high volume of automation across a diverse set of devices.

  • Passionate about bringing a world-class experience to millions of people watching our content on varied devices, in different languages, with diverse network connectivity, from locations across the globe.

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 $266,000.00 - $442,000.00.

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.

Interview Prep

AI-powered insights to help you prepare

Key Skills

Required:
Preferred:

Practice Questions

💡Technical Questions (3)
  • 1.How would you design a testing strategy for a custom video player on tvOS that handles HLS playlist building, FairPlay DRM decryption, and multi-track audio, ensuring you go beyond just XCUI end-to-end tests?
  • 2.You are running a high volume of automated tests across a diverse set of Apple devices and noticing a high flakiness rate, particularly around video playback start times. How do you use data and scientific thinking to triage and resolve this?
  • 3.Describe your experience building test infrastructure and frameworks in Swift or Objective-C. How do you ensure the tools you build are maintainable and adopted by other engineers on the team?
🎯Behavioral Questions (3)
  • 1.Tell me about a time you had to draw the line between what should be automated and what should remain manual. How did you defend your decision?
  • 2.Describe a situation where you influenced a team's quality culture or drove a change in test strategy, especially when others were resistant.
  • 3.Give an example of a time you collaborated across platform or team boundaries to solve a complex, hard-to-reproduce playback issue.
🧩Situational Questions (2)
  • 1.You notice a critical playback failure emerging in production where video stalls on older Apple TV models, but the automated end-to-end tests passed perfectly. How do you approach investigating this emergent behavior?
  • 2.Your manager asks you to use AI tooling to close coverage gaps for the FairPlay DRM licensing flow, but the team is skeptical about AI-generated tests. How do you proceed?

Resume Keywords

Make sure these keywords appear on your resume

SwiftObjective-CtvOSHLSAVPlayerFairPlayTest Automation FrameworkAI-assisted testingXCUIComponent TestingFlakiness TriageCross-functional Collaboration

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