Senior Manager, Software Engineering (Search)

O'Reilly Auto Parts•Headquarters, KY

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Application Development - Search Platforms plans, organizes, and administers a major application development area focused on enterprise search. This role provides technical leadership for search platform strategy, development, and operations, ensuring scalable, high-performing, and relevant search experiences across digital commerce channels. The Senior Manager oversees multiple development teams and is accountable for the design, delivery, and ongoing optimization of search platforms. This position is located in Springfield, MO. Areas of Focus Search Strategy & Planning Develop and execute an enterprise search strategy aligned with business and customer experience goals. Define, measure, and report on metrics to evaluate search effectiveness and relevance. Analyze search performance and customer behavior to identify optimization opportunities. Search Platform Management Lead enterprise search platforms including Solr, Elasticsearch, and Amazon OpenSearch. Ensure high availability, scalability, and performance of search environments. Oversee search index design, schema configuration, and query pipelines. Drive search relevance tuning initiatives, including boosting, weighting, ranking strategies, and synonym management. Monitor platform performance and lead troubleshooting and optimization efforts.

Requirements

Strong search platform background with experience in Solr, Elasticsearch, and/or Amazon OpenSearch.
Proven expertise in search relevance tuning, query optimization, and performance monitoring.
Solid understanding of information retrieval principles and search algorithms.
Engineering background with strong experience in Java (Python a plus).
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Familiarity with DevOps practices and tools such as Docker and Kubernetes.
Experience managing cloud-based search platforms.
Strong problem-solving, communication, and project management skills.
12+ years of software development and/or technical leadership experience.
Proven experience leading application development teams focused on search platforms.
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting e-commerce or enterprise-scale search platforms.
Advanced education in project management or leadership.
ITIL certification.

Responsibilities

Manage the analysis, design, development, implementation, and testing of search-related applications using approved methodologies.
Lead multiple development teams to deliver scalable, high-quality search solutions.
Provide technical direction, coaching, and performance feedback to team members.
Build effective teams, allocate resources, and promote engineering best practices.
Lead hiring, promotion, and performance management decisions.
Maintain accountability for all systems within the search platform domain.
Assess project value and prioritize initiatives based on business impact.
Partner with stakeholders to define requirements, evaluate options, and plan delivery.
Manage capacity planning, resource allocation, and operating and capital budgets.
Oversee third-party vendors and contract evaluations.
Maintain awareness of emerging search and cloud technologies.
Ensure compliance with development standards, security requirements, and organizational policies.
Conduct research, feasibility studies, and technical evaluations.
Coordinate work across multiple application development teams.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Competitive Wages & Paid Time Off
Stock Purchase Plan & 401k with Employer Contributions Starting Day One
Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance with Optional Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Team Member Health/Wellbeing Programs
Tuition Educational Assistance Programs
Opportunities for Career Growth

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