← All roles

Staff Software Engineer - Search Platform

Rippling· Engineering
Apply on company site
Hybrid (Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA)$189k - $315kfull-timePosted 3mo ago

About the role

Staff Software Engineer responsible for designing and owning Rippling's search platform, including indexing, retrieval, relevance, and query performance at scale. Collaborates with Product Leadership and multiple teams to build shared search primitives and maintain best-in-class operational standards.

Responsibilities

  • Define and lead the technical vision for Rippling search systems: indexing pipelines, query serving, ranking/relevance, and retrieval quality measurement
  • Tackle open-ended challenges in hybrid retrieval, semantic/vector search, and metadata ranking to push the boundaries of the platform
  • Build and operate resilient, high-performance infrastructure (OpenSearch/Elasticsearch) capable of supporting 10x scale growth while maintaining rigorous standards for latency, freshness, correctness and cost-efficiency
  • Define relevance strategy and evaluation: offline benchmarks, quality metrics, and production monitoring
  • Build reusable search platform abstractions used by multiple Rippling products
  • Elevate the engineering organization through strategic design reviews, mentorship, and establishment of best-in-class operational standards

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in backend/platform engineering with ownership of distributed systems in production
  • Deep experience in search infrastructure (OpenSearch/Elasticsearch/Solr/Lucene-style systems), indexing, and relevance tuning
  • Strong systems design fundamentals: storage/index design, query execution, performance optimization, and reliability engineering
  • Experience with data platforms and schema-rich systems, including large-scale ingestion and serving paths
  • Proficiency in at least one backend language (Python, Go, or Java)
  • Strong cross-functional execution and ability to lead ambiguous multi-team platform initiatives

Skills

Required:Backend engineeringSearch infrastructureSystems designProgramming languagesCross-functional leadership

Benefits

  • Competitive salary + benefits + equity
  • In-office collaboration emphasis (3 days/week onsite for office-based roles)
Last updated Sep 2, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
Rippling logo

About Rippling

#1 Workforce Management System | HR, IT, Finance

Rippling eliminates the friction from running a business, combining HR, IT, and Finance apps on a unified data platform.

HRPayrollITFinanceGlobal
Company profileWebsite

More open roles at Rippling