Lead Software Engineer, Search (Semantic Platform)
for section headings like About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. Do NOT repeat job title as heading. Do NOT put Job ID etc. Include only sections with real specific content. Remove boilerplate, navigation, legal, EEO, scam warning, duplicated lines, application instructions.
We need to preserve all substantive information. So we need to extract sections: About the role (maybe the intro paragraphs about mission etc). Responsibilities (What You'll Do). Requirements/Qualifications/Skills (maybe combine). Benefits (maybe not explicit). Pay (they gave Pay Transparency Range). Schedule (they gave hybrid work model: three days per week in office). Also maybe Location.
We must not create sections with filler like "commensurate with experience". Pay section we have actual range, so include Pay. Schedule we have hybrid model details, include Schedule. Benefits: they mention variable compensation, equity, benefits in accordance with local policies, but not specific benefits. Might be too vague; but they say "benefits in accordance with local policies". Not specific. Might be considered filler? The instruction: never emit a heading followed by filler/placeholder text (e.g., "commensurate with experience", "not specified", "N/A", "varies", "TBD") and never create Pay/Schedule/Benefits sections unless the posting actually states them. Benefits: they mention "benefits" but not specific; could be considered vague. Might be better to omit Benefits section unless we have concrete benefits like health insurance etc. Not present. So omit Benefits.
We need to include About the role: The introductory paragraphs about mission, vision, etc. That is substantive.
Responsibilities: "What You’ll Do" bullet points.
Requirements/Qualifications/Skills: "Who Are You" list.
We may combine Requirements and Qualifications into one section? The instruction says use headings for those categories if they exist. We have both. Could split: Requirements (experience, location) and Qualifications (skills). But better to follow typical: Requirements (experience, location) and Qualifications (technical skills). However we must not create thin sections. Let's see content:
Experience: 7+ years..., OpenSearch expertise, Semantic & Hybrid Search, Strong Backend Fundamentals, Data Pipelines, Location, Familiarity with Neural Search, Experience migrating..., Experience setting up automated..., Familiarity with containerization...
These are qualifications/skills. Could treat as "Requirements" (maybe all). But we have also "Location: Must be based in or willing to relocate to the Austin, TX area and comfortable working in a hybrid environment". That's a requirement.
We could have a single "Requirements" section covering all. Or split into "Experience" and "Skills". But headings limited to given list: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We can use Requirements for experience and qualifications, Skills for technical skills? Might be redundant. Better to use Requirements for experience and location, Qualifications for technical expertise, Skills for specific tools/languages. But we risk thin sections.
Let's decide: Use Requirements for the experience and location (7+ years, location). Use Qualifications for OpenSearch expertise, semantic/hybrid search, backend fundamentals, data pipelines. Use Skills for familiarity with Neural Search, migration experience, automated quality measurement, containerization.
That seems reasonable and each has substantive content.
Now Pay: we have range $163,000 - $244,000.
Schedule: hybrid work model: three days per week in office.
Now we need to output HTML fragment only, no /. Use headings, - for lists,
for prose.
We must not include duplicated lines. Ensure we preserve all substantive info.
Let's extract prose for About the role: The first paragraph(s) up to "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Search to pioneer..." Actually that is role intro. The "About the role" could be the mission description before the role specifics. Let's capture:
"Welcome to the Agentic Commerce Era At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you."
Then after that: "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Search to pioneer the next evolution of our search infrastructure." That could be part of About the role as well. But we might treat that as role intro. However we already have About the role heading; we can include that sentence as part of About the role.
We should not repeat the job title as a heading, but we can mention it in prose.
Now Responsibilities: "What You’ll Do" bullet points:
- Architect the Future of Search: Lead the design and implementation of semantic search capabilities, utilizing OpenSearch to build a robust, hybrid search (BM25 + vector) capability from the ground up
- Iterate & Optimize: Continuously evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune search relevance, ranking models, and k-NN/neural search configurations within OpenSearch
- Own the Indexing Pipeline: Maintain, scale, and evolve our core data ingestion and indexing pipelines (built on MySQL, Kafka/RabbitMQ, and backend microservices) to seamlessly support dense vector ingestion and de-duplicated, resilient synchronization
- Technical Leadership: Guide the technical roadmap for the Search team, establish engineering best practices, and mentor senior and mid-level engineers through complex architectural decisions
- Production Excellence: Ensure the search platform meets ultra-low latency requirements and high-availability SLAs under massive, concurrent traffic loads while participating in the team's on-call rotation
We need to preserve all details.
Now Requirements (experience + location):
- Experience: 7+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record in a technical leadership or staff-level capacity
- Location: Must be based in or willing to relocate to the Austin, TX area and comfortable working in a hybrid environment
Now Qualifications (technical expertise):
- OpenSearch/Elasticsearch Expertise: Deep hands-on experience building, scaling, and fine-tuning OpenSearch (or Elasticsearch) clusters at scale
- Semantic & Hybrid Search: Proven experience implementing semantic search, working with text embeddings, vector databases, and configuring hybrid search scoring models
- Strong Backend Fundamentals: High proficiency in a strongly typed language like GoLang, Scala, or Java, alongside experience with languages like PHP
- Data Pipelines: Strong experience with relational databases (MySQL), schema design, and distributed messaging tools (Kafka or RabbitMQ) for heavy data mutation and indexing
Now Skills (additional):
- Familiarity with the OpenSearch Neural Search plugin, k-NN search, or Learning to Rank (LTR)
- Experience migrating large-scale search infrastructure from traditional Elasticsearch configurations to advanced OpenSearch semantic implementations
- Experience setting up automated search quality measurement frameworks (e.g., NDCG, MRR)
- Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) in a cloud environment
Now Pay:
- Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00
We could present as
Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00
or as list.
Now Schedule:
- For candidates based in the Austin metro area the position follows a hybrid work model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with meaningful in-person collaboration.
Now we need to ensure we don't include boilerplate like "Compensation Transparency", "Inclusion and Belonging", "EEO", "scam warning", etc.
We must not include duplicated lines.
Now produce HTML.
Structure:
About the role
...
Responsibilities
- ...
...
Requirements
- ...
...
Qualifications
- ...
...
Skills
- ...
...
Pay
Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00
Schedule
For candidates based in the Austin metro area the position follows a hybrid work model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with meaningful in-person collaboration.
Check that we didn't miss any substantive info: The mention of "We also consider internal equity..." etc is part of Compensation Transparency but we omitted because it's generic. The "We also consider internal equity..." is not specific pay detail; it's boilerplate. So okay.
The "We are committed to equitable and transparent pay practices..." also boilerplate.
The "Inclusion and Belonging" etc is boilerplate.
The "Learn more about the Commerce team..." is navigation.
The "Protect Yourself Against Hiring Scams:" is scam warning, remove.
Now ensure we didn't lose any substantive details like "We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry." That's part of About the role? It appears after the mission paragraph but before "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer...". Actually the text includes: "BigCommerce, part of the Commerce brand family, helps merchants increase sales at every stage of their growth.... We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry." That is substantive about the company. Should we include it in About the role? Yes, it's about the company and mission. So we should incorporate that into About the role paragraph.
Thus About the role paragraph should include: mission, parent company, BigCommerce description, purpose, etc. Let's craft a concise but comprehensive paragraph preserving all details.
We'll combine:
"At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. BigCommerce, part of the Commerce brand family, helps merchants increase sales at every stage of their growth. From small startups to mid-market businesses and large enterprises, we provide the leading e-commerce platform. Our customers can then concentrate on what's most important: growing their businesses. We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you.
- for lists,
for prose. We must not include duplicated lines. Ensure we preserve all substantive info. Let's extract prose for About the role: The first paragraph(s) up to "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Search to pioneer..." Actually that is role intro. The "About the role" could be the mission description before the role specifics. Let's capture: "Welcome to the Agentic Commerce Era At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you." Then after that: "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Search to pioneer the next evolution of our search infrastructure." That could be part of About the role as well. But we might treat that as role intro. However we already have About the role heading; we can include that sentence as part of About the role. We should not repeat the job title as a heading, but we can mention it in prose. Now Responsibilities: "What You’ll Do" bullet points: - Architect the Future of Search: Lead the design and implementation of semantic search capabilities, utilizing OpenSearch to build a robust, hybrid search (BM25 + vector) capability from the ground up - Iterate & Optimize: Continuously evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune search relevance, ranking models, and k-NN/neural search configurations within OpenSearch - Own the Indexing Pipeline: Maintain, scale, and evolve our core data ingestion and indexing pipelines (built on MySQL, Kafka/RabbitMQ, and backend microservices) to seamlessly support dense vector ingestion and de-duplicated, resilient synchronization - Technical Leadership: Guide the technical roadmap for the Search team, establish engineering best practices, and mentor senior and mid-level engineers through complex architectural decisions - Production Excellence: Ensure the search platform meets ultra-low latency requirements and high-availability SLAs under massive, concurrent traffic loads while participating in the team's on-call rotation We need to preserve all details. Now Requirements (experience + location): - Experience: 7+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record in a technical leadership or staff-level capacity - Location: Must be based in or willing to relocate to the Austin, TX area and comfortable working in a hybrid environment Now Qualifications (technical expertise): - OpenSearch/Elasticsearch Expertise: Deep hands-on experience building, scaling, and fine-tuning OpenSearch (or Elasticsearch) clusters at scale - Semantic & Hybrid Search: Proven experience implementing semantic search, working with text embeddings, vector databases, and configuring hybrid search scoring models - Strong Backend Fundamentals: High proficiency in a strongly typed language like GoLang, Scala, or Java, alongside experience with languages like PHP - Data Pipelines: Strong experience with relational databases (MySQL), schema design, and distributed messaging tools (Kafka or RabbitMQ) for heavy data mutation and indexing Now Skills (additional): - Familiarity with the OpenSearch Neural Search plugin, k-NN search, or Learning to Rank (LTR) - Experience migrating large-scale search infrastructure from traditional Elasticsearch configurations to advanced OpenSearch semantic implementations - Experience setting up automated search quality measurement frameworks (e.g., NDCG, MRR) - Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) in a cloud environment Now Pay: - Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00 We could present as
Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00
or as list. Now Schedule: - For candidates based in the Austin metro area the position follows a hybrid work model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with meaningful in-person collaboration. Now we need to ensure we don't include boilerplate like "Compensation Transparency", "Inclusion and Belonging", "EEO", "scam warning", etc. We must not include duplicated lines. Now produce HTML. Structure:About the role
...
Responsibilities
- ... ...
Requirements
- ... ...
Qualifications
- ... ...
Skills
- ... ...
Pay
Pay Transparency Range: $163,000.00 - $244,000.00
Schedule
For candidates based in the Austin metro area the position follows a hybrid work model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with meaningful in-person collaboration.
Check that we didn't miss any substantive info: The mention of "We also consider internal equity..." etc is part of Compensation Transparency but we omitted because it's generic. The "We also consider internal equity..." is not specific pay detail; it's boilerplate. So okay. The "We are committed to equitable and transparent pay practices..." also boilerplate. The "Inclusion and Belonging" etc is boilerplate. The "Learn more about the Commerce team..." is navigation. The "Protect Yourself Against Hiring Scams:" is scam warning, remove. Now ensure we didn't lose any substantive details like "We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry." That's part of About the role? It appears after the mission paragraph but before "We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer...". Actually the text includes: "BigCommerce, part of the Commerce brand family, helps merchants increase sales at every stage of their growth.... We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry." That is substantive about the company. Should we include it in About the role? Yes, it's about the company and mission. So we should incorporate that into About the role paragraph. Thus About the role paragraph should include: mission, parent company, BigCommerce description, purpose, etc. Let's craft a concise but comprehensive paragraph preserving all details. We'll combine: "At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. BigCommerce, part of the Commerce brand family, helps merchants increase sales at every stage of their growth. From small startups to mid-market businesses and large enterprises, we provide the leading e-commerce platform. Our customers can then concentrate on what's most important: growing their businesses. We enable our customers to build, innovate, and grow, collectively reshaping the e-commerce industry. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you.