Principal Search Engineer

**Requirements** **Must\-haves** * 6\+ years of professional experience * Applied ML, or large\-scale information retrieval experience * Experience with AWS OpenSearch or Elasticsearch * Experience with vector\-based retrieval and hybrid ranking models * Proficiency with Python, Node.js, or similar languages * Experience with CI/CD pipelines * Hands\-on experience with performance optimization, observability, and scalability engineering * Familiarity with enterprise data security, compliance, and privacy standards * Strong communication skills in both spoken and written English **Nice\-to\-haves** * Startup experience * Deep knowledge of semantic search, embeddings, or LLM\-based ranking * Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent **What you will work on** **1\. Improve search relevance and ranking** * Enhance search quality across hybrid retrieval systems (BM25, vector/KNN) * Design and deploy re\-ranking algorithms using machine learning and experimentation * Build data\-driven evaluation frameworks and automated testing to track relevance and ranking improvements **2\. Optimize performance and scalability** * Reduce query latency and ensure system reliability at scale * Optimize OpenSearch schema, query routing, and AWS infrastructure for efficiency * Implement observability tools, performance metrics, and alerting systems to maintain SLAs (p99 \< 2s, avg \< 1s) **3\. Drive ML\-based search innovation** * Improve embedding generation and retrieval pipelines using AWS Bedrock and ML tools * Develop automated workflows for re\-embedding, re\-indexing, and index validation with zero downtime * Ensure compliance with data governance and security standards (GDPR, SOC2, etc.) **4\. Ensure quality, testing, and collaboration** * Integrate performance, regression, and load testing into CI/CD workflows * Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to deliver production\-ready updates * Document and communicate technical improvements