Principal Product Manager, Search Platform

Realtor.com; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Inclusive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible Time Off

Tuition Reimbursement

401(k) plan with company match

Paid Volunteer Time Off

Free snacks and refreshments

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Principal Product Manager to lead their search platform strategy. This role is pivotal in shaping the user experience through innovative AI-driven search capabilities and advanced ranking methodologies. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive initiatives that enhance user engagement and revenue generation. This is an exciting opportunity to influence the future of real estate engagement, ensuring that the tools provided are not only effective but also user-friendly. Join a company committed to digital transformation and make a significant impact in the real estate industry.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in search product strategies, ideally in marketplaces.
• Expertise in advanced search models and AI-driven technologies.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the roadmap for search platforms.
• Lead initiatives for AI-driven search and ranking models.

Skills

Machine Learning

AI-driven Search

Ranking Models

Data Analysis

Cross-functional Collaboration

Strategic Leadership

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Elastic Search

XGBoost

Job description

Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com has been at the forefront of online real estate for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights and expert guidance to find their perfect home. Through its robust suite of tools, Realtor.com not only makes a significant impact on the real estate industry at large, but for consumers, navigating the biggest purchase they will make in their life, by providing a user experience that is easy to use, easy to understand, and most of all, easy to make decisions.

Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.

The Role:

As Principal Product Manager for Realtor.com's Search Platform, you’ll own the strategy, vision, and roadmap for how our search experience is to work, driving everything from our ranking and optimization models to pioneering AI-driven search capabilities. Given how critical our search experience is to our overall marketplace, your work will meaningfully shape user experience, engagement, and the company’s bottom line.

You'll lead initiatives that span machine learning-driven relevance optimization, innovative AI-driven semantic search, personalized experiences, and groundbreaking ranking methodologies, fundamentally transforming how homebuyers engage with Realtor.com.

This is a highly strategic role visible at the executive level, offering the opportunity to significantly impact our competitive positioning through your expertise in search technology, product management leadership, and user-centered innovation.

What You'll Do:

• Define and execute a visionary roadmap for Realtor.com’s search platforms, encompassing advanced ML ranking models, AI-driven semantic search, conversational interfaces, and personalized experiences.
• Lead initiatives integrating sophisticated AI, such as embedding-based semantic search and advanced ranking algorithms (e.g., XGBoost, neural embeddings, reinforcement learning).
• Drive the creation and adoption of innovative ranking models optimized for both user engagement and revenue generation, leveraging methods like composite relevance/revenue objectives, unbiased learning-to-rank techniques, and dynamic model selection.
• Champion the build-out of advanced, real-time search personalization and targeted search experiences based on consumer profiles and session data.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering, Data Science, Design, Marketing, and Business Operations teams to bring search innovations to market quickly, leveraging extensive backend-driven experimentation and reliable search lifecycle event tracking.
• Communicate and evangelize your roadmap and strategy clearly across Realtor.com and with external stakeholders, providing regular executive-level updates and insights.

How we work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. For most roles, our employees work three or more days in our offices, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

What you'll bring:

• Proven expertise (12+ years) working on and leading search product strategies at scale, ideally within marketplaces or consumer platforms commensurate with Realtor.com's complexity.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated track record of strategic leadership, driving major search-related initiatives from inception through successful execution, directly contributing to organizational success.
• Deep understanding of advanced search and ranking models (Gradient Boosted Decision Trees, neural embeddings, reinforcement learning), including familiarity with infrastructure such as Elastic search, XGBoost, and embedding-based vector search.
• Strong analytical and data-driven mindset, capable of balancing immediate user experience considerations with long-term strategic business objectives.
• Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams including ML/AI, engineering, design, analytics, and business stakeholders to drive complex initiatives effectively.
• Exceptional communication skills, capable of articulating a compelling vision and translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable plans.
• Comfortable driving strategic changes in a dynamic, high-visibility environment, proactively addressing risks, and fostering an inclusive and innovative team culture.

Why Join Us? Realtor.com is at a pivotal moment of digital transformation. In this role, you’ll set the standard for what modern, AI-driven search and discovery means for real estate. You’ll be at the heart of initiatives that redefine consumer expectations and shape the future of real estate engagement at scale.

Apply now to lead with vision, innovate with confidence, and build the next generation of Realtor.com's industry-defining search platform.

How we Reward you:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Do the best work of your life at Realtor.com

Here, you’ll partner with a diverse team of experts as you use leading-edge tech to empower everyone to meet a crucial goal: finding their way home. And you’ll find your way home too. People are our foundation—the core that drives us passionately forward. At Realtor.com, you’ll bring your full self to work as you innovate with speed, serve our consumers, and champion your teammates. In return, we’ll provide you with a warm, welcoming, and inclusive culture; intellectual challenges; and the development opportunities you need to grow.

Diversity is important to us, therefore, Realtor.com is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Realtor.com will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.