Senior Software Engineering Manager

Jobtailor; Illinois; On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel up to 10%

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a seasoned software engineering leader to define a long-term vision for a scalable search platform. You will guide architecture, data handling, and ML-driven improvements while mentoring several engineering teams and collaborating with product partners across eCommerce and content search domains.

The role emphasizes headless framework design, API performance, and cloud deployment with DevOps practices. Travel up to 10% is expected.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering leadership across multiple teams.
• Experience delivering search platforms with high relevance and low latency.
• Proven ability to architect scalable, headless frameworks for web/mobile apps.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement a long-term technical vision for the search platform.
• Ensure scalability and adaptability to growing data volumes and query complexity.
• Recruit, manage, and mentor teams of software engineers and align objectives across groups.

Skills

Team leadership

Mentoring

Search product mgmt

NLP & ML for search

Java/Python/Scala

Cloud DevOps

Tools

OpenSearch

Elastic/Elasticsearch

SOLR

Lucene

Coveo

LucidWorks Fusion

AWS Memory-storage

AI code generation tools

CI/CD

Job description

• Define and implement a long-term technical vision for the search platform
• Ensure search platform scalability and adaptability to growing data volumes and query complexity
• Understand major product and service groups and apply that knowledge across business scenarios
• Build detailed technical architecture for search solutions focused on website content
• Recruit, manage, and mentor one or multiple teams of software engineers
• Align teams around shared objectives and outcomes
• Introduce NLP, vector search, and personalization capabilities to enhance relevance and accuracy
• Use structured delivery methods to manage new or enhanced software products
• Design and maintain integrations across platforms, systems, and software packages
• Apply testing processes and tools to ensure high-quality software solutions
• Manage IT services and oversee reliable service operations
• Build search capabilities with measurable KPIs such as CTR, Query Distribution, and Zero Search
• Leverage analytics to continuously improve search performance
• Partner with product managers, data scientists, and engineering leaders to align search initiatives with business objectives
• Travel up to 10%

Requirements

• Strong experience as a Software engineering manager, Software Architecture manager, or Software product manager managing 10+ team members
• Previous experience with Search products such as OpenSearch, Elastic Search, SOLR, Lucene, Coveo, and LucidWorks Fusion
• Strong expertise in building head-less frameworks to integrate with Web/Mobile applications, along with building crawlers and Web information parsing solutions
• Proficiency in Java, Python, or Scala, including source control tools and practices
• Proficiency in AI code generation tools such as Claude Code, ChatGPT, or GitHub Copilot
• Familiarity with DevOps tools and techniques for cloud deployment
• Practical experience applying machine learning to improve search relevance
• Strong search engineering experience, leading multiple engineering teams, driving technical architecture and decision-making, and delivering end-to-end search solutions across eCommerce and content search environments
• Working experience with building Low-latency API in AWS using Memory-storage solutions preferred
• Familiarity with A/B testing frameworks for evaluating and improving search relevance preferred
• Must demonstrate strong initiative, interpersonal skills, and the ability to communicate effectively
• Knowledge of major products and services and product and service groups
• Knowledge of organizational leadership concepts and strategies
• Knowledge of software development tools and activities
• Knowledge of software development life cycle
• Knowledge of software integration processes and functions
• Knowledge of software product design and architecture
• Knowledge of software quality assurance and testing
• Knowledge of Information Technology service management
• Position requires the candidate to be in Chicago, IL, Peoria, IL, or Dallas, TX
• Visa sponsorship is not available
• Ability to complete a drug screen successfully
• Up to 10% travel required

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in defining technical architecture and implementing scalable search solutions, leveraging advanced technologies such as NLP and machine learning to enhance search performance. Proven ability to lead and mentor engineering teams while aligning technical initiatives with business objectives.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Search Product Management
• Software Engineering Management
• Java, Python, or Scala Proficiency
• NLP and Machine Learning Application
• DevOps Tools and Techniques

Hard Skills

• Search Product Development
• Technical Architecture Design
• Head-less Frameworks
• Building Crawlers
• Web Information Parsing
• Low-latency API Development
• Software Quality Assurance
• Software Integration Processes
• Software Development Life Cycle
• A/B Testing Frameworks

Soft Skills

• Interpersonal Skills
• Effective Communication
• Initiative
• Leadership

Industry Keywords

• Search Solutions
• E-commerce Search
• Content Search
• Information Technology Service Management
• Software Development Tools

Tools & Technologies

• OpenSearch
• Elastic Search
• SOLR
• Lucene
• Coveo
• LucidWorks Fusion
• AI Code Generation Tools
• DevOps Tools
• AWS Memory-storage Solutions
• Analytics Tools