About The Position
Reddit is a community-driven platform with over 100,000 active communities and 121 million daily active unique visitors, serving as a major source of information. The ML Indexing & Retrieval Platform team is responsible for building and scaling the core infrastructure that powers machine learning-driven recommendations. This includes designing and maintaining systems for ML data ingestion, low-latency retrieval services, and end-to-end lifecycle management of data, with a focus on performance, reliability, and scalability. These systems enable real-time access to high-quality data for applications like Content Understanding, Semantic, Lexical retrieval, and GenAI. The Senior Staff Software Engineer will lead the development of next-generation ML Indexing & Retrieval systems, owning the full lifecycle from ideation to production, and reimagining core platform capabilities. This role involves solving complex technical challenges within a high-impact, cross-functional team to build scalable, reliable platforms that empower developers to efficiently ship critical ML features.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in software engineering, specializing in Indexing and Retrieval systems.
- 3+ years in technical leadership, architecting and scaling distributed systems in production environments.
- Deep expertise in large-scale data platforms, including batch indexing and stream processing.
- Proven experience designing and operating large-scale, low-latency retrieval services.
- Expertise in lexical and vector search retrieval technologies, such as Milvus, Vespa, or Elasticsearch.
- Skilled in designing cloud-native architectures and managing containerized workloads using Kubernetes and AWS/GCP.
- Adept at translating complex technical challenges into clear, actionable strategies.
- Strong communicator and mentor who leads through collaboration, influence, and technical excellence.
Responsibilities
- Lead the technical strategy, architecture, and implementation of Reddit’s next-generation ML Indexing & Retrieval engine, integrating capabilities across lexical and vector indexing, low-latency retrieval, and emerging GenAI applications.
- Partner closely with product engineers across Content Understanding, Search, Feeds, Ads, Growth, and Safety to deliver high-quality experiences.
- Define best practices for observability, reliability, and operational excellence in large-scale distributed systems.
- Mentor and guide engineers in designing scalable infrastructure and adopting robust DevOps and SRE principles.
- Collaborate with infrastructure, and ML teams to ensure the platform evolves to meet the needs of Reddit’s growing user base and diverse content ecosystem.
Benefits
- Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits and Income Replacement Programs
- 401k with Employer Match
- Global Benefit programs that fit your lifestyle, from workspace to professional development to caregiving support
- Family Planning Support
- Gender-Affirming Care
- Mental Health & Coaching Benefits
- Flexible Vacation & Paid Volunteer Time Off
- Generous Paid Parental Leave
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Generous time off for vacation
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
501-1,000 employees
