Backend Engineer (Search Relavnace)

American IT Systems•St Louis, MO

4d•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a Backend Engineer specializing in Search Relevance to join our team. This role is crucial for analyzing and enhancing search algorithms to ensure accurate and relevant search results for our users. You will implement and manage search query optimization strategies, oversee search engine configurations, and leverage AI/ML technologies for advanced search functionalities. This position involves close collaboration with product owners, data scientists, and other software engineers to define and implement search-related features. You will also monitor search performance metrics, user feedback, and maintain documentation for search algorithms and system configurations. The ideal candidate will have excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, strong communication abilities, and a customer-centric approach.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field.
8+ years of hands-on experience in search relevance, Search Query Optimization, and software engineering for eCommerce websites.
Proven experience with at least one major search engine preferably Elasticsearch (or any Lucene based search engine such as Solr or OpenSearch).
Experience in Lexical search using algorithms like BM25, Semantic Search.
Deep understanding of search relevance tuning, search query optimization, ranking, tokenization, stemming, and query parsing.
Experience building or integrating RAG-based architectures for LLM-assisted search use cases.
Experience with MLOps practices and tools.
Proven experience in Python and experience with ML frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Scikit-learn.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Must have excellent problem-solving skills and be customer centric.
Excellent communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Recent experience in Java, Kotlin, Spring, Spring Boot is a plus.
Experience with Microservices, CI/CD, Event Oriented Architectures and Distributed Systems.
Experience with cloud environments (e.g., Google Cloud Platform, Azure, Amazon Web Services).
Experience leading product-oriented engineering development teams is a plus.
Familiarity with DevOps practices/principles, Agile/Scrum methodologies, CI/CD pipelines and the product development lifecycle.
Strong background in SQL and NoSQL databases.
Familiarity with modern web APIs and full stack frameworks is a plus.
Experience with Java, Google Analytics, Big Query, Cassandra, Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka, in memory caching are a plus.
Familiarity with data manipulation and analysis libraries (e.g., Pandas, NumPy, Spark) is a plus.

Responsibilities

Analyze and enhance search relevance algorithms to ensure accurate and relevant search results for users.
Implement and manage search query optimization strategies to optimize search results based on user behavior and business objectives.
Oversee the configuration and performance of search engines, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of the eCommerce platform.
Leverage AI and machine learning technologies to develop and implement advanced search functionalities, including personalized search results and predictive search capabilities.
Work closely with product owner, data scientists, and software engineers to define and implement search-related features and improvements.
Monitor search performance metrics and user feedback to identify areas for enhancement and implement data-driven solutions.
Maintain clear documentation of search algorithms, tuning strategies, and system configurations for internal teams.
Mentor and guide engineers across the team, promoting a culture of engineering excellence and experimentation.
Provide solutions based on business requirements.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams.
Work with global teams and maintain a flexible work schedule.