Senior Backend Engineer - Search & Data Pipelines

Quizlet; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthy work-life balance

20 vacation days

Health insurance

401k plan with company match

LinkedIn Learning access

Paid Family Leave

Wellness benefits

Volunteer time off

Job summary

Quizlet is seeking a Backend Engineer to own data pipelines ingestion into Elasticsearch indices and to design scalable index architecture. You will develop backend retrieval services, implement hybrid lexical+vector search, and collaborate with ML teams.

The role requires 4+ years in backend or data engineering, strong SQL, and experience with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Docker, and Kubernetes. Hybrid in-office schedule in NYC area with flexible options.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in backend or data engineering with production pipelines.
• Strong SQL and data warehouse experience.
• Proficiency in Python and orchestration tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain data pipelines ingesting content into Elasticsearch indices.
• Own index design, mappings, and lifecycle management for scalable search.
• Build hybrid retrieval using lexical and vector methods.
• Develop backend retrieval services and APIs with low latency.
• Integrate embeddings and manage re-embedding workflows.

Skills

Backend development

Data pipelines

SQL proficiency

Python

Airflow

Education

Bachelor's in CS or related

Tools

Elasticsearch/OpenSearch

Docker

Kubernetes

dbt

Snowflake/BigQuery/Redshift

Job description

Quizlet is seeking a Backend Engineer to own data pipelines ingestion into Elasticsearch indices and to design scalable index architecture. You will develop backend retrieval services, implement hybrid lexical+vector search, and collaborate with ML teams.

The role requires 4+ years in backend or data engineering, strong SQL, and experience with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Docker, and Kubernetes. Hybrid in-office schedule in NYC area with flexible options.