Senior Software Engineering Manager

Caterpillar Inc.•Peoria, IL

9d•$147,760 - $240,110•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Software Engineering Manager for Search is responsible for setting the technical direction and overseeing the execution of advanced search solutions. This role combines strategic vision, hands-on technical expertise, and leadership to build scalable, high-performance search platforms that deliver exceptional user experiences. Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics, and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world. Our websites and eCommerce applications are the key digital enabler to Caterpillar’s aftermarket parts and services growth strategy. Delivering on the Caterpillar brand promise of premium, high-quality solutions is an important element in accelerating the development and deployment of Caterpillar’s expanded capabilities in eCommerce.

Requirements

Knowledge of major products and services and product and service groups; ability to apply knowledge of product and service appropriately to diverse situations.
Knowledge of leadership concepts and ability to use strategies and skills to enlist others in setting, embracing and achieving objectives.
Knowledge of software development tools and activities; ability to produce software products or systems in line with product requirements.
Knowledge of software development life cycle; ability to use a structured methodology for delivering and managing new or enhanced software products to the marketplace.
Knowledge of software integration processes and functions; ability to design, develop and maintain interfaces and linkage to alternative platforms and software packages.
Knowledge of software product design; ability to convert market requirements into software product design.
Knowledge of software quality assurance and testing; ability to apply appropriate processes, tools, and techniques for assuring a high level of quality in computer software products and systems.
Knowledge of Information Technology (IT) service; ability to manage IT services and oversee service operations.

Nice To Haves

Strong experience as a Software engineering manager, Software Architecture manager, Software product manager managing 10+ team members
Previous experience with Search products such as OpenSearch, Elastic Search, SOLR, Lucene, Coveo, and LucidWorks Fusion.
Strong expertise in building head-less frameworks to integrate with Web/Mobile applications along with building crawlers, Web information parsing solutions.
Proficiency in Java, Python, or Scala, including source control tools and practices for managing code and changes to it.
Proficiency in AI code generation tools such as Claude Code, ChatGPT, or GitHub Copilot.
Familiarity with DevOps tools and techniques for cloud deployment.
Practical experience applying machine learning to improve search relevance.
Strong search engineering experience, leading multiple engineering teams, driving technical architecture and decision-making, and delivering end-to-end search solutions across eCommerce and content search environments in diverse industries.
Working experience with building Low-latency API in AWS using Memory-storage solutions preferred
Familiarity with A/B testing frameworks for evaluating and improving search relevance preferred
Must demonstrate strong initiative, interpersonal skills, and the ability to communicate effectively

Responsibilities

Define and implement a long-term technical vision for the search platform to ensure scalability and adaptability to growing data volumes and query complexity.
Understand major product and service groups and apply that knowledge across business scenarios.
Build detailed technical architecture for search solutions specifically focused on websites content.
Responsible for recruiting, managing, and mentoring one or multiple teams of software engineers to achieve shared departmental objectives.
Use leadership strategies to align teams around shared objectives and outcomes.
Introduce advanced capabilities such as NLP, vector search, and personalization to enhance relevance and accuracy.
Use structured delivery methods to manage new or enhanced software products.
Design and maintain integrations across platforms, systems, and software packages.
Apply testing processes and tools to ensure high-quality software solutions.
Manage IT services and oversee reliable service operations.
Build search capabilities with measurable KPIs (e.g., CTR, Query Distribution, Zero Search) and leverage analytics to continuously improve search performance.
Partner with product managers, data scientists, and engineering leaders to align search initiatives with business objectives.