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# Staff Software Engineer - Search Platform

- **Company:** CO-RIPPLING LLC
- **Location:** Seattle, WA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Query Performance, Java (Programming Language), Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Apache Lucene, Distributed Systems, Elasticsearch, Information Retrieval, Python (Programming Language), Metadata, Performance Tuning, Reliability Engineering, Search Technologies, Software Engineering, Apache Solr, Apache Spark, Indexer, Backend, Apache Kafka, Data Management, Presto, Multiplatform, OpenSearch
- **Published:** November 4, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/staff-software-engineer-search-platform-seattle-wa--2bf21ecb-e88c-4919-af77-8fbee0a2e0bd

## About the Role

Software Engineering, Leadership, Multiplatform/Cross-Platform, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Power Generation, Search Technology, Quality Metrics, Metadata, Semantic Search, * 8+ years in backend/platform engineering with ownership of distributed systems in production.

 * Deep experience in search infrastructure (OpenSearch/Elasticsearch/Solr/Lucene-style systems), indexing, and relevance tuning.
 * Strong systems design fundamentals: storage/index design, query execution, performance optimization, and reliability engineering.
 * Experience with data platforms and schema-rich systems, including large-scale ingestion and serving paths.
 * Proficiency in at least one backend language (Python, Go, or Java).
 * Strong cross-functional execution and ability to lead ambiguous multi-team platform initiatives.

Nice to have

 * Hybrid retrieval, semantic/vector search, or ML-assisted ranking experience.
 * Experience with analytics/query ecosystems (e.g., Trino/Presto, Kafka, Iceberg, Spark).
 * Experience building discoverability products such as catalog search, field selection, metadata ranking.

## Description

You will be the primary technical authority for Search at Rippling, designing cross-platform search primitives that will power the next generation of our product features. You will partner with the Product leadership to influence the roadmap, ensuring Search capabilities are a competitive advantage for our product suite. You will own architecture and execution for indexing, retrieval, relevance/ranking, and query performance at scale. You'll partner across with Product leadership Data Cloud, platform, and AI/product teams to build shared search primitives that power multiple product surfaces., * Define and lead the technical vision for Rippling search systems: indexing pipelines, query serving, ranking/relevance, and retrieval quality measurement

 * Tackle open-ended challenges in hybrid retrieval, semantic/vector search, and metadata ranking to push the boundaries of what our platform can do.
 * Build and operate resilient, high-performance infrastructure (OpenSearch/Elasticsearch) capable of supporting 10x scale growth while maintaining rigorous standards for latency, freshness, correctness and cost-efficiency.
 * Define relevance strategy and evaluation: offline benchmarks, quality metrics, and production monitoring.
 * Build reusable search platform abstractions used by multiple Rippling products.
 * Elevate the entire engineering organization through strategic design reviews, mentorship, and the establishment of "best-in-class" operational standards.