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Netflix·Software Engineer·Onsite - System Design / Architecture·Senior

Senior
Jul 2026

Summary

Netflix system design round for a software engineering role. The whole session was basically one giant question about ad configuration infrastructure, which sounds narrow but actually sprawled into a lot of different territory fast.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Design a supply-side advertising configuration system that manages publisher-specific rules, covering inventory modeling, rule inheritance, conflict resolution, real-time evaluation, and safe deployment.

System DesignData ModelingTechnical Trade-offs
Author's notes

This one is deceptively wide.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying requirements and scale, then propose a layered data model with inheritance and overrides. Walk through real-time evaluation with caching and conflict resolution, and finish with a safe deployment strategy using canary releases and rollback.

Pro tip: Emphasize idempotency and auditability in rule changes; Netflix values systems that can be safely rolled back and audited for compliance.

1. Clarify Requirements and Scale

Ask about expected QPS, number of publishers, rule complexity, and latency SLAs. Confirm whether rules are evaluated per request or precomputed.

2. Design Data Model and Inheritance

Propose a hierarchical model: global defaults, publisher-level overrides, and campaign-specific rules. Use a tree or DAG to represent inheritance and avoid cycles.

3. Define Conflict Resolution

Specify precedence rules (e.g., most specific wins, or explicit priority). Handle overlapping conditions with deterministic resolution and logging.

4. Real-Time Evaluation and Caching

Design an evaluation engine that compiles rules into an efficient structure (e.g., decision tree or bitset). Use caching for hot rules and invalidate on updates.

5. Safe Deployment and Rollback

Implement versioned rule sets, canary deployment, and automated rollback on error metrics. Ensure atomic updates and audit trails.

Key Points to Mention

  • Hierarchical rule inheritance with overrides and cycle detection
  • Conflict resolution strategies: specificity, priority, or explicit ordering
  • Real-time evaluation techniques: rule compilation, caching, and invalidation
  • Scalability: sharding by publisher, read replicas, and async updates
  • Safe deployment: versioning, canary releases, feature flags, and rollback
  • Observability: logging, metrics, and audit trails for rule changes

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.