Senior Java Engineer (Search, Vector Retrieval)

We are looking for a Senior Java Engineer to join our team and work on high-performance backend services with a strong focus on search functionality and AI-powered products.

The role is primarily focused on Java backend development, search optimization, and integration of AI/ML pipelines into production systems. This is not a Machine Learning position — you will not be training models, but rather building and maintaining the services and infrastructure around them.

Must-have qualifications:

1. 5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience with Java in production environments
2. Strong expertise in Java 25+, Spring Framework / Spring Boot, and modern backend development practices
3. Experience building and optimizing high-performance search systems and search-related services
4. Hands-on experience with vector search technologies, preferably Vespa, or other vector databases/search platforms (OpenSearch, Elasticsearch, Weaviate, Pinecone, Milvus, Qdrant, etc.)
5. Solid experience with Redis, MySQL, and Apache Kafka
6. Experience working with reactive programming, preferably RxJava
7. Strong understanding of distributed systems, scalability, performance tuning, and reliability
8. Experience designing and implementing APIs and microservices
9. Good knowledge of software architecture, testing, and engineering best practices

Nice-to-have qualifications:

• Production experience with Vespa
• Experience building semantic search, vector search, or Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions
• Familiarity with AI/ML infrastructure and pipelines, including integrating machine learning models into production services
• Experience orchestrating AI-powered services and working with embeddings, ranking, and recommendation systems
• Knowledge of cloud platforms and containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with observability, monitoring, and performance analysis tools

Key responsibilities:

• Developing and optimizing large-scale search functionality with a strong focus on full-text and vector search performance
• Building backend services using Java, Spring, and reactive technologies
• Designing and improving search relevance, ranking, indexing, and retrieval mechanisms
• Integrating AI/ML components into production systems and supporting AI-driven product features
• Building and maintaining reliable data pipelines and event-driven services using Kafka
• Collaborating with product, data, and engineering teams to deliver scalable search and discovery solutions

Working hours:

Candidates must be available to overlap with the New York team from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET. The remaining working hours are flexible.

Tech stack:

Java 25+, Spring Boot, RxJava, Redis, Vespa, MySQL, Kafka, Vector Search Technologies, AI/ML Infrastructure.

Working Conditions:

• Remote
• Full-time

What we offer:

Long-term project with competitive compensation.

Opportunities for team collaboration and growth.

Participation in both new software development and existing projects (no old code).