Netflix Software Development Engineer Salary

Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, together known as FAANG companies, are five of the biggest tech companies in the world. These companies provide a wide spectrum of opportunities for software engineers, coding engineers, and software developers. Landing a job at these tech behemoths is a lengthy process, but with proper guidance, you can nail your software development engineer interview like a pro!

If you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation ebook to get interview-ready! Also, read Netflix Interview Questions and Netflix interview guide for specific insights and guidance on Netflix tech interviews.

Netflix enjoys a prominent place in the world of streaming services, but it’s competitors are hot on its heels. That’s why software engineers are extremely important to Netflix. If you’re interested in a software engineering role at Netflix, you probably want to know how much the company actually pays its experienced engineers?

In this article, we discuss the salary of a software development engineer at Netflix. Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover:

• Netflix Senior Software Engineer Salary
• Benefits of Working at Netflix as a Software Engineer
• Netflix Software Engineer Salaries by Location
• Software Engineer Salaries — Netflix vs. Other Tech Companies
• How to Negotiate a Salary at Netflix
• FAQs on Netflix Software Engineer Salary
• How to Crack the Software Development Engineer Interview at Netflix

Netflix Senior Software Engineer Salary

At Netflix, unlike other FAANG Companies, there is only one level in the ladder of progression for software engineers. The company strictly hires only experienced employees; thus, the Netflix senior software engineer position is the only level at Netflix.

The total salary earned by a Netflix senior software engineer can be broken down into three components:

1. The base component: This is the basic salary that an employer pays to an employee. The base component does not include any compensation, bonuses, or benefits offered by the company. The base component of a Netflix senior software engineer is around $500K.
2. Stock compensation: Employees at Netflix are offered stock compensations in the form of equity. The stock compensation given to a senior software engineer at Netflix is $11K per year.
3. Bonus: This is the variable component of a Netflix senior software engineer’s salary. The amount of bonus received by an employee can be on an average of $1000.

After adding up the individual components, the average salary of a Netflix software engineer is estimated to be $511K (excluding bonus).

Netflix Software Engineer Stock Options

Netflix offers its employees an opportunity to buy stock options from Netflix at a price lower than the Market price. Every Software Engineer at Netflix is offered free stock options amounting to 5% of that individual’s salary. These stock options are not ‘stocks’ but options to purchase a stock at a specified time. There are ways in which a Software Engineer at Netflix can alter these stock options:

1. One can additionally purchase some more stock options by directing some amount of the total salary towards it.
2. One can accumulate stock options every year and use them when Netflix’s price increases; this way, a huge profit can be earned.

When and how to exercise the stock options entirely depends on the employee; Netflix has no say in it.

Benefits of Working at Netflix as a Software Engineer

At FAANG companies, all employees, including Software Engineers, software developers, and tech leads, are provided with a wide range of benefits and bonuses. These benefits can be broadly classified into the following categories:

1. Health Benefits

Netflix provides a wide range of health benefits to its employees. Some of the perks offered are:

• Health Insurance: A health insurance plan of up to $16,000 is provided to cover the employee’s medical, vision, and dental health.
• Maternity and Paternity Leave: Leave of up to 1 year is allotted. However, this can be altered after a conversation with the manager or a senior partner.
• Disability Insurance: The individual is given 100% pay for the first 12 weeks, 70% for the remaining 40 weeks, and in case of long-term assistance, 70% pay is given to the employee in need.
• Life Insurance: A life insurance of USD 1.5 Million is given to an employee at Netflix.
• Unlimited paid time offs and sick leaves.

2. Transport Benefits

The company usually has company shuttles. (Los Angeles and Los Gatos) Employees traveling from faraway places can reimburse their Uber bills from the company.

3. Home Benefits

Netflix provides wholesome assistance for the employee’s family. This covers adoption assistance, fertility assistance, relocation bonus, on-site laundry services, phone bill reimbursement, and more.

4. Post-retirement Perks

• Employment stock repurchase program: Employees can purchase Netflix stocks at 60% of the original market rate, according to this program.
• 401K pension plan. This plan of Netflix is considered in one of the top 15% in terms of company generosity and salary deferral, and total cost.

Other On-site Company Perks:

• Netflix is a pet-friendly company, giving employees the liberty to bring their pets to work.
• The company provides free breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
• The employees can even avail special gym discounts.

The benefits provided to Netflix Software Development Engineers are of an estimated total value of $13,314. 

Netflix Software Engineer Salaries by Location

The total compensation received by Netflix Senior Software Engineers on average is $511K. However, this value varies as per the office location, the seniority of the employee, and years of experience. An overview of total compensation received by Netflix software engineers:

As it can be clearly seen from the table above, the total compensation range offered by Netflix to Senior Software Engineers at its headquarters is higher than other locations.

Software Engineer Salaries — Netflix vs. other tech companies

As Netflix has only one level of Software Engineer, an employee’s salary is determined by the years of experience in the field. An individual with over 10 years of experience compared to an individual with 2 years of experience will naturally receive higher pay at Netflix.

Netflix Senior Software Engineers are paid generously, as it has been observed that Senior Software Engineers at Netflix receive 31% higher salaries than Facebook, which is considered the highest paying tech giant.

The Software Engineer Annual Salary range in different FAANG companies are as follows:

• Netflix: $499K
• Facebook: $180K- $890K
• Amazon: $164K- $642K
• Alphabet: $191K- $1.02 million
• Apple: $176K- $719K

The range mentioned above comprises the base salary earned by the entry-level employees and the senior-most employees of the company. However, the final total compensation received by a Software Engineer would depend on the bonuses and stock compensation.

As it can be seen from the range of salaries offered to Software Engineers across renowned tech companies, the highest starting salary for an entry-level position is offered by Alphabet, with the potential to earn over a million in a few years.

How to Negotiate a Salary at Netflix

Whether you are starting a new position or are expecting a promotion, salary negotiation is going to be a crucial aspect of the process. There are few points to keep in mind while politely negotiating for a salary you deserve:

1. Know Your Worth! Do not undermine your efforts and years of experience in front of the recruiters.
2. Research about the pay scale and compensation benefits offered at other companies. This will help you derive an estimate for yourself.
3. Ask for more than what you expect; this way, you give the recruiters some room for adjustment.
4. Negotiate for the salary at the right time. This is an important point to be noted when it comes to seeking a promotion. A bad mood can throw your opportunity of getting a raise out of the window.

Feel free to check out our blog on Salary Negotiation Tips to learn about some of the common mistakes made during the process of salary negotiation and how to avoid them.

FAQs on Netflix Software Engineer Salary

1. What is the average salary earned by a Netflix Software Engineer?
   Netflix Software Engineer Salary is estimated to be around $511K.
2. Does Netflix offer benefits apart from salary?
   Yes, Netflix offers many benefits, including health insurance, 401K pension plan, and more.
3. What is the work environment at Netflix like?
   Based on the reviews uploaded by Netflix employees, the company has a very friendly environment, and the company deeply values work-life balance.

How to Crack a Software Development Engineer Interview at Netflix?

The fundamental step to ace one of the reputed FAANG company interviews is to understand the interview process. After understanding the process, draft your preparation strategy. The following points can be considered:

1. Derive a comprehensive and structured technical interview prep plan.
2. Practice solving data algorithm problems every day to improve your problem-solving skills.
3. Use competitive programming platforms to improve your coding skills.
4. Practice Mock Interviews with Netflix hiring managers and employees

The only way to successfully follow the mentioned points is to have a well-planned course. You can check out our blog on How to Get Software Engineering and Developer Jobs at Netflix and can Sign up for our FREE webinar to understand more about the courses available at Interview Kickstart.

Having trained over 6,000 software engineers, we know what it takes to crack the toughest tech interviews. Since 2014, Interview Kickstart alums have been landing lucrative offers from FAANG and Tier-1 tech companies, with an average salary hike of 49%. The highest ever offer received by an IK alum is a whopping $933,000!

At IK, you get the unique opportunity to learn from expert instructors who are hiring managers and tech leads at Google, Facebook, Apple, and other top Silicon Valley tech companies.

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