Taxonomy Strategist, Product Experience

At Netflix, we want to entertain the world and are constantly innovating how entertainment is imagined, created, and delivered to a global audience. We currently stream content in more than 30 languages in 190 countries, topping over 230 million paid subscribers. 

We have many workstreams at Netflix that require robust data, and data governance to help us manage operations.  In this role, you will be responsible for driving the strategy, construction, adoption, and governance of taxonomies that support the growing volume of core content data through dozens of applications and multiple workflows to support the lifecycle of content at Netflix.

We are seeking a senior-level Taxonomy Strategist who has experience with and passion for bringing structure to large-scale, disparate databases and vocabularies. You will be responsible for scoping, creating, and maintaining data dictionaries, controlled vocabularies, schema governance, and data integrity/enforcement.

Ideal Candidates:

Collaborating with cross-functional partners, you are confident in making informed decisions. You possess the communication skills to successfully advocate for and gain acceptance of new taxonomy-related processes and governance policies. You have experience developing both product-facing and internal taxonomies for supply chains, operations, jobs, and vendors, preferably related to the entertainment industry.

As a Taxonomy Strategist, you will work closely with multiple internal teams, including but not limited to Product, Design, Engineering, Content Data Management, and Data Science teams to define, develop, maintain, and govern related taxonomies. 

Reporting to the Product Metadata & Ratings Taxonomy & Governance Manager, this is an exempt role. Preferred location is Los Gatos or Los Angeles, but will consider US Remote, with some required travel to California. 

• Defining new taxonomies and metadata related to the categorization, technical and creative attributes that will support the Netflix content pipeline. 
• Reconciling disparate taxonomies and metadata across teams.
• Strategically evaluating the taxonomy and requests for new data for synergies with existing taxonomies wherever possible.
• Evaluation of adoption of industry taxonomies and associated mapping solutions.
• Surveying and interviewing stakeholders and observing current workflows (or, leveraging past and current discovery work to glean relevant insights).
• Working with subject matter experts to define workflows and standards for metadata application.
• Working closely with engineering partners to identify solution requirements, including tooling and intuitive UI for metadata application.
• Ensuring metadata is defined such that its integrity will not be compromised by cultural bias.
• Evangelizing the importance of the adoption of common taxonomies.
• Working with team experts to develop training materials and sessions.
• Creating and maintaining documentation to support taxonomies.
• Reviewing other taxonomies and collaborating with Taxonomy Team colleagues.
• Auditing existing taxonomies and improving their efficiency.
• Establishing, implementing, and/or updating maintenance and governance tracks for created taxonomies.

• Deep experience with complex, interconnected taxonomies.
• Experience defining and developing new taxonomy and metadata schemas.
• Experience as a team member with software development cycles and practices.
• Experience working in a high-volume content environment.
• Experience working with systems shared across disparate internal teams.
• Experience establishing a governance system.
• Excellent communication skills: written, verbal, and presentation.
• Comfortable working with stakeholders, partners, and co-workers to create order out of vague and/or ambiguous requirements.
• Able to work with and manage multiple technical and non-technical stakeholders' expectations and priorities.
• Ability to influence across various function groups.
• Experience working in a global context, sensitive to regional requirements.
• Familiarity with legal compliance and the changing landscape of data regulations around the world.
• Ability to set goals and work independently in a highly cross-functional, non-hierarchical workplace.

• Master's degree in related fields: Data Management, Computer Science, Library & Information Science.
• Merchandising, or marketing experience, particularly around campaign lifecycles.
• Experience working in the entertainment industry.
• Experience working with a global catalog, consumer-facing experiences, and creative content. 
• Interest in Machine Learning and/or Artificial Intelligence capabilities.
• Interest in Information Architecture, User Experience, and/or Human-Computer Interaction.
• Experience with Multilingual Taxonomies.
• Familiarity with Ontologies and Graph Models.

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 $80,000 - $300,000.

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 detail about our Benefits here.

Netflix is a unique culture and environment.  Learn more here.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity of thought and background 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.

Salary : $80,000 - $300,000