Lead Software Engineer, Search (Semantic Platform)

Cacheflow; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 163,000 - 244,000; Full time

Job summary

Commerce is seeking a Lead Software Engineer, Search in Austin to pioneer the next evolution of our search infrastructure. You will architect and scale semantic search via a hybrid OpenSearch-based system, blending BM25 with vector embeddings and dense/sparse retrieval across the Commerce ecosystem.

You will lead the Search team, shaping the technical roadmap, tuning relevance, and ensuring ultra-low latency and high availability under massive concurrent traffic.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience with leadership capabilities.
• Deep hands-on OpenSearch/Elasticsearch experience at scale.
• Experience implementing semantic and hybrid search with vector embeddings.
• Strong backend fundamentals in Go, Scala, or Java (experience with PHP is a plus).
• Experience with relational databases (MySQL) and distributed messaging (Kafka/RabbitMQ).

Responsibilities

• Architect semantic search capabilities using OpenSearch to build a robust hybrid search (BM25 + vector).
• Iterate, benchmark, and fine-tune relevance, ranking models, and neural search configurations.
• Own data ingestion and indexing pipelines with MySQL, Kafka/RabbitMQ, and microservices for dense vector ingestion.
• Provide technical leadership and mentor engineers on complex architectural decisions.
• Ensure ultra-low latency, high-availability search platform and participate in on-call rotation.

Skills

OpenSearch

Semantic search

Backend development

Distributed systems

Hybrid search

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

MySQL

OpenSearch

Kafka

RabbitMQ

Job description

Overview

Commerce empowers businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with an open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect tools and systems that power growth, unlock data potential, deliver personalized experiences across channels, and adapt to a changing market. We harness AI responsibly to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and enable teams to grow on their own terms. We seek bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce.

We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Search to pioneer the next evolution of our search infrastructure. In this role, you will build, iterate, and scale semantic search via hybrid search on OpenSearch as a core platform capability.

As the technical lead for this initiative, you will architect systems that blend traditional keyword matching with deep semantic understanding. You will own the strategy for integrating vector embeddings, neural search, and dense/sparse hybrid retrieval, directly impacting how users discover data across our ecosystem. If you are a hands-on technical leader who loves OpenSearch, relevancy tuning, and building high-throughput, foundational capabilities, we want you in our Austin hub.

BigCommerce, part of the Commerce brand family, helps merchants increase sales at every growth stage. From startups to large enterprises, we provide the leading e-commerce platform so customers can focus on growing their businesses. We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, reshaping the e-commerce industry together.

What You’ll Do

• Architect the Future of Search: Lead the design and implementation of semantic search capabilities using OpenSearch to build a robust hybrid search (BM25 + vector) from the ground up
• Iterate & Optimize: Continuously evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune search relevance, ranking models, and k-NN/neural search configurations within OpenSearch
• Own the Indexing Pipeline: Maintain, scale, and evolve core data ingestion and indexing pipelines (built on MySQL, Kafka/RabbitMQ, and backend microservices) to support dense vector ingestion and de-duplicated, resilient synchronization
• Technical Leadership: Guide the technical roadmap for the Search team, establish engineering best practices, and mentor senior and mid-level engineers through complex architectural decisions
• Production Excellence: Ensure the search platform meets ultra-low latency requirements and high-availability SLAs under massive, concurrent traffic loads while participating in the on-call rotation

Who Are You

• Experience: 7+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record in a technical leadership or staff-level capacity
• OpenSearch/Elasticsearch Expertise: Deep hands-on experience building, scaling, and fine-tuning OpenSearch (or Elasticsearch) clusters at scale
• Semantic & Hybrid Search: Proven experience implementing semantic search, working with text embeddings, vector databases, and configuring hybrid search scoring models
• Strong Backend Fundamentals: High proficiency in typed languages such as Go, Scala, or Java, with experience in languages like PHP
• Data Pipelines: Experience with relational databases (MySQL), schema design, and distributed messaging tools (Kafka or RabbitMQ) for heavy data mutation and indexing
• Location: Based in or willing to relocate to the Austin, TX area and comfortable working in a hybrid environment

• Familiarity with the OpenSearch Neural Search plugin, k-NN search, or Learning to Rank (LTR)
• Experience migrating large-scale search infrastructure to OpenSearch semantic implementations
• Experience setting up automated search quality measurement frameworks (e.g., NDCG, MRR)
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) in a cloud environment

Work Where You Thrive: For candidates in the Austin metro area, the position follows a hybrid model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with collaboration.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-GC1

(Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00)

Compensation Transparency

The national base salary range for this role is posted above in this job post. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and geographic location. We also consider internal equity to ensure fair and consistent pay practices across our teams.

Where applicable, this role may also be eligible for variable compensation (such as bonus or equity), and benefits in accordance with local policies. Details will be shared during the hiring process. We are committed to equitable and transparent pay practices that align to market data, internal equity, and individual contribution.

Inclusion and Belonging

Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diverse histories, perspectives, and abilities, and we provide an inclusive environment for all employees to contribute, grow, and thrive. If you require accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know so we can meet your needs.

Learn more about the Commerce team, culture, and benefits at Commerce Careers.

Protect Yourself Against Hiring Scams: Our Corporate Disclaimer

Commerce has been the subject of fraudulent job offers. Be advised: Commerce does not offer jobs to individuals who do not go through our formal hiring process. Commerce will never:

• require payment of recruitment fees from candidates;
• request personally identifiable information through unsanctioned websites or applications;
• solicit money from you as part of the hiring process or as part of an employment offer;
• solicit money to complete visa requirements as part of a job offer.

If you receive unsolicited offers of employment from Commerce, please exercise caution and avoid engagement.