Senior Staff Tech Lead, Google Retail Ads

Google; New York (NY); On-site; USD 262,000 - 364,000; Full time

Job summary

Google looks for a software engineer to own the technical and strategic roadmap for retail signals, shaping AI-driven value delivery for advertisers and retailers.

You will lead multi-team efforts, align expectations with PMs and executives, and drive optimization and tool consolidation to improve performance across the retail segment of Search Ads.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software development experience with multiple programming languages, data structures and algorithms.
• 8+ years testing, maintaining or launching software products; 5+ years in software design and architecture.
• Experience in Ads or Search products.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical and strategic roadmap for retail signals, goals and optimization.
• Lead the solution space, technically and strategically across teams while working with PM.
• Consolidate tools for value adjustments and apply across predictions and optimization.
• Collaborate with senior cross-product area partners to leverage expertise and infrastructure.

Skills

Software development

Testing & maintenance

Software architecture

Ads or Search products

AI/ML signals

Cross-functional leadership

Performance optimization

Data synthesis & insights

Strategy & roadmap

Ambiguity navigation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

In most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages, and with data structures and algorithms.
• 8 years of experience testing, maintaining or launching software products, and 5 years of experience with software design and architecture.
• Experience in Ads or Search products.

Preferred qualifications:

• Track record of leading multi-disciplinary projects from conception to execution, with the ability to influence and align stakeholders across Engineering, Product, and Sales.
• Familiarity with how AI-driven signals and ML models translate into retail-specific business value and user-facing improvements.
• Understanding of performance optimization within a constrained environment, including the ability to balance trade-offs between automated value delivery and system limitations.
• Ability to synthesize complex datasets and various performance metrics into actionable strategic insights and clear technical roadmaps.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and "connect the dots" across various product areas to build a long-term goal for retail advertising.

About The Job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward. With your technical expertise you will manage project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables. You will design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and enhance software solutions. We work on the retail segment of Search Ads, driving advertiser goals through performance, directives, and insights to empower businesses in the retail ecosystem. In this role, you'll shape how retailers connect with customers in the age of AI. You will define the technical and strategic roadmap for signals, LTV value, optimization, and advertiser directives. By leading cross-functional teams, you will build the foundational intelligence that powers automated value delivery across Search Ads for Retail. You will require a strong understanding of auction dynamics, prediction and quality systems, and advertiser-facing tools. Google Ads is at the forefront of AI innovation, applying cutting-edge machine learning and Generative AI models like Gemini to power a multi-billion dollar global business. Our work directly impacts billions of users by protecting users from harm, improving ad quality, and optimizing campaigns for advertiser return‑on‑investment. We foster a culture of deep collaboration, partnering closely with teams like Google Research and DeepMind to solve complex challenges. Join us to work on state‑of‑the‑art AI, take on problems at an unparalleled scale, and build the next generation of advertising technology.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $262000 - $364000 (USD) + 25% bonus target + equity + benefits

Responsibilities

Learn more about benefits at Google .

• Own the technical and strategic roadmap for retail signals, goals and optimization. As we enter the age of AI transformation on search, we have a need to improve the user understanding, advertiser intent and LTV value definition to power automated value delivery for retailers.
• Lead the solution space, that is distributed across multiple teams, technically and strategically, while working with PM.
• Work with PMs and Executives, identify the right areas of improvements, making sure all the areas come together (e.g., how we consolidate different tools for value adjustments and use consistently across predictions and optimization).
• Work with senior cross-product area partners to leverage their expertise and infrastructure.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form .