Search Software Engineer

Technical Skills:

Required Skills:

Search & Indexing Fundamentals

·         Hands-on experience with Lucene-based search platforms (Solr, OpenSearch, or Elasticsearch)

·         Understanding of index schemas/mappings: field types, stored vs. indexed, doc values, multi-valued fields

·         Familiarity with text analysis pipelines: tokenizers, filters, analyzers (index-time vs. query-time)

·         Ability to inspect an index directly — querying fields, checking term vectors, using analysis APIs

Data & Transformation

·         Ability to trace raw source data through an ingestion pipeline into indexed fields

·         Comfort reading structured/semi-structured data formats (XML, JSON)

·         Understanding of data normalization and transformation patterns

Query & Testing

·         Skill in crafting targeted test queries to expose behavioral difference

·         Experience with structured or Boolean query languages (experience with custom parsers a plus)

·         Ability to design and execute parity/regression test cases at multiple levels: index content, query results, ranking, facets, highlighting

Development

·         Java proficiency — able to read, debug, and make targeted changes to Java codebases

·         Familiarity with Maven or Gradle build systems

AI-Assisted Analysis & Development:

·         Proficiency using AI coding assistants (e.g. Claude Code) to investigate complex problems, generate hypotheses, and draft code changes

·         Ability to formulate precise, context-rich prompts that produce actionable results from an AI assistant

·         Comfort working in an AI-augmented development workflow: reading and critically evaluating AI-generated output before applying it

Analysis & Communication:

·         Ability to identify root cause of parity differences and attribute them to a specific layer (ingestion, schema, analyzer, query parser)

·         Able to produce clear, actionable defect reports for developers

Preferred skills:

·         Experience with custom Lucene analyzers or codec plugins

·         Python scripting (data inspection, test automation, reporting)

·         Familiarity with OpenSearch REST API and index management

·         Experience with SQLite or other lightweight databases for test result storage

·         Search engine certifications (Elastic, OpenSearch)

·         Experience with parallel/comparative testing frameworks

·         Background in a domain with complex structured data (legal, scientific, patent, medical)

Education Level: Bachelors’ Degree