Lead, Search Platform Engineering (Remote)

Socket.dev; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

12 paid holidays

401K with ezCater match

Health/dental/FSA

Job summary

ezCater is seeking an Engineering Manager for its Search Platform in a Boston hybrid setup. You will lead the team responsible for how customers discover restaurants, including the search engine, indexing pipeline, and availability services.

This position guides architecture, delivery, and operational maturity during a major replatform. Reporting to the Director of Engineering, you will mentor engineers, review designs, and partner with product, data, and AI/ML teams to optimize relevance and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, including leadership in complex backend or platform environments.
• Engineering management experience with hiring, developing and retaining engineers.
• Deep credibility in search or retrieval systems (Vespa/Elasticsearch/OpenSearch/Solr) and related re-architecture work.
• Strong backend depth in distributed, event-driven systems; Go experience preferred.
• Experience with indexing pipelines, document models, and event-streaming patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery and technical quality across query serving, indexing, availability, and APIs.
• Set technical direction for the search stack including architecture, ranking, and migration sequencing.
• Own the freshness and correctness of the index and availability domain.
• Review designs, challenge assumptions, and help the team de-risk architecture and delivery decisions.
• Build a culture of measurement, experimentation, and continuous improvement in search quality and platform reliability.
• Coach, develop, and grow engineers with clear expectations and a high technical bar.
• Prioritize ruthlessly to reduce technical risk and unblock downstream teams.
• Partner with product, data, AI/ML, and platform engineering on signals, experimentation, and shared infrastructure.
• Establish clear ownership boundaries and scalable platform foundations.

Skills

Software engineering

Engineering management

Search/retrieval systems

Go backend

Indexing pipelines

Observability

Cross-functional leadership

Tools

Vespa

Elasticsearch

OpenSearch

Solr

Job description

ezCater is seeking an Engineering Manager for its Search Platform in a Boston hybrid setup. You will lead the team responsible for how customers discover restaurants, including the search engine, indexing pipeline, and availability services.

This position guides architecture, delivery, and operational maturity during a major replatform. Reporting to the Director of Engineering, you will mentor engineers, review designs, and partner with product, data, and AI/ML teams to optimize relevance and