Senior Software Engineer

About the role

Algolia is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Search team, which is responsible for building the cloud-based architecture that powers our NeuralSearch engine. In this capacity, you will own the design and operation of distributed systems that manage data indexing and query processing for our global customer base. The role requires you to translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions while maintaining a sharp focus on performance and reliability. You will be instrumental in defining the technical direction of search infrastructure components that underpin critical customer workflows. Furthermore, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional partners to ensure that system architecture aligns with product strategy and user expectations. This position offers the opportunity to deepen your expertise in large-scale data processing and distributed system patterns. You will contribute to high-impact initiatives that shape the future of search technology and directly influence the experience of millions of end users.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Design and develop core search infrastructure components that handle data ingestion, transformation, and indexing at scale.
• Maintain system reliability and participate in an out-of-hours on-call rotation to respond to production incidents promptly.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to diagnose and resolve high-impact technical issues using structured investigation methodologies.
• Apply engineering best practices to ensure high code quality, maintainable architecture, and system stability across the technology stack.
• Share technical knowledge regarding distributed systems with the wider team through documentation, discussions, and code reviews.
• Analyze query processing pipelines to identify bottlenecks and implement optimizations that improve latency and throughput.
• Partner with product and design teams to evaluate new search features and translate requirements into robust technical specifications.
• Implement monitoring and alerting strategies to provide visibility into system health and performance metrics in real time.
• Evaluate emerging search engine technologies and assess their applicability to our cloud-based architecture and product roadmap.
• Ensure that all solutions adhere to security and compliance standards relevant to handling customer data in a global environment.

Requirements

• Proven experience designing and operating distributed systems within production environments, with a track record of managing complex architectures.
• Practical knowledge of managing large datasets and high-traffic applications, including strategies for scaling and performance tuning.
• Experience working in high-growth companies with ARR in the 50 million to 200 million USD range, demonstrating adaptability to fast-paced environments.
• Strong commitment to automated testing, including unit, integration, and end-to-end tests, to ensure system correctness and reduce regressions.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English to facilitate clear communication with international teams and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take ownership of technical decisions while collaborating effectively with others.
• Understanding of search engine fundamentals, including indexing, ranking, and query parsing, and how these concepts apply to real-world systems.
• Willingness to engage in technical discussions that involve trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance in distributed environments.

Nice to have

• Professional experience with Go, including writing efficient services and integrating them into existing infrastructure.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, including cluster administration, deployment patterns, and resource management for containerized applications.
• Background in Site Reliability Engineering, with experience in incident response, capacity planning, and infrastructure automation.

Skills & tools

• Distributed systems architecture involving components such as databases, caches, and message queues in a cloud environment.
• Search engine technology, including concepts related to relevance, tokenization, and distributed querying.
• Cloud infrastructure, leveraging managed services and infrastructure as code to build resilient solutions.
• Automated testing, implementing frameworks and practices that ensure code quality and system reliability.

Practical notes

This role is available for candidates residing in France. Algolia operates a flexible workplace model where you may choose to work remotely, in a hybrid capacity, or from our Paris office. The compensation range provided reflects the location-specific guidelines for French residents. Please ensure all applications are submitted through the official Algolia careers page to be considered for this position. The selection process will typically involve technical assessments and interviews with members of the Search team. All official correspondence will originate from an @algolia.com email address, and candidates are advised to verify communication channels to avoid scams. We do not request financial payments or purchases during the recruitment process, and any such requests should be reported immediately. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, so early submission is encouraged. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to engage with a collaborative engineering culture that values transparency, continuous learning, and measurable impact.