Lead Software Engineer - Search Platform

Bass Pro Shops • Springfield, MO

71d

About The Position

We are seeking a Lead Engineer / Technical Product Owner for our E-commerce Search Platform to drive the vision, strategy, architecture, development and execution of our internal search capabilities. This role requires a blend of hands-on engineering expertise, product thinking, and team leadership. You will lead the development and continual improvement of intelligent, high-performing, and personalized on-site search experience. This includes relevance tuning, machine learning applications, A/B testing, and close collaboration with engineering, product, UX, and merchandising teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required; Master's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field preferred.
• 7+ years of software engineering or technical product roles, with 3+ years focused on search technologies.
• Proven track record with search engines such as Coveo (preferred), Elasticsearch, Solr, or OpenSearch.
• Solid programming experience with languages such as Java, Python, or Scala.
• Strong understanding of information retrieval, ranking algorithms, NLP, and machine learning.
• Experience with retail search use cases including catalog data, taxonomy, merchandising strategies, and product discovery.
• Excellent communication, project management, and leadership skills; ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience working within microservices architectures or headless commerce environments.
• Knowledge of data privacy, ethical AI, and regulations affecting personalized search is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the roadmap for our e-commerce search and discovery platform, aligning with business goals and customer needs.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineers, Data Scientists, UX Designers, and Merchandisers to shape a seamless and effective experience.
• Drive continuous improvement in search relevance, autocomplete, spelling correction, synonyms, and ranking algorithms.
• Lead engineering efforts to build and optimize scalable, performant, and resilient search infrastructure using platforms like Coveo, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or Solr.
• Leverage AI/ML techniques and NLP for personalization, intent detection, and dynamic ranking to improve user engagement and conversion.
• Establish success metrics, conduct A/B testing, analyze search usage patterns, and iterate based on insights.
• Ensure observability, fault tolerance, and scalability to handle peak traffic scenarios during high-demand retail periods.
• Assess and integrate third-party APIs and tools where they enhance the search experience or accelerate development.
• Stay ahead of trends in semantic search, vector search, headless commerce, and voice/text search innovations.

Benefits

• Enjoy discounts on retail merchandise, our restaurants, world-class resorts and conservation attractions!
• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Account
• Voluntary benefits
• 401k Retirement Savings
• Paid holidays
• Paid vacation
• Paid sick time
• Bass Pro Cares Fund
• And more!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees