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Search Engineer, AI Infrastructure (SF/Toronto)

lavendoSan FranciscoProduct, Engineering & Data
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Salary
$235K – $260K
Job type
Full-time
Experience
Senior · 3+ yrs
Posted
24 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Search Engineer, AI Infrastructure (SF/Toronto) is a full-time engineering position based in San Francisco, focusing on ranking quality and relevance for an LLM-driven search and retrieval product. This role suits an experienced practitioner who wants to build production search systems in a fast-paced environment.

Role Overview

Lavendo is hiring a Search Engineer, AI Infrastructure for a client that builds the data layer powering AI agents. The position involves designing and maintaining retrieval systems that convert web URLs into structured, LLM-ready data at scale. The engineer will work directly with the Head of Search to optimize relevance while managing latency and operating costs.

Key Responsibilities

Own ranking quality and relevance for LLM-driven retrieval
Design and build the crawling, indexing, and retrieval systems
Push down latency and cost per query while search volume grows
Own services end to end: design, ship, monitor, and iterate in production
Work directly with the Head of Search and the rest of the search team on the roadmap

Requirements

3+ years of experience building and operating search or retrieval systems in production, with ranking and relevance as a primary owned discipline
Provide a specific example of a ranking or re-ranking change personally owned, along with the metric moved and numerical impact
Hands-on information-retrieval depth across BM25, lexical retrieval, semantic or vector retrieval, hybrid retrieval, re-ranking, and evaluation
Experience measuring search quality using production metrics such as relevance, recall, conversion, CTR, NDCG, MRR, or query satisfaction
End-to-end ownership background covering design, shipment, monitoring, debugging, and iteration of production search services
Strong backend programming skills in Go, Rust, Python, or a comparable language
Experience balancing relevance, latency, cost, correctness, and reliability under production constraints
Comfort working through ambiguity and shipping quickly with a build-measure-iterate operating style

Skills and Tools

Go
Rust
Python
BM25 and lexical retrieval
Semantic and vector retrieval
Hybrid retrieval
Re-ranking and retrieval evaluation

Salary and Benefits

San Francisco base salary ranging from $235,000 to $260,000 USD plus competitive equity
Toronto base salary ranging from $217,000 to $233,000 CAD plus competitive equity
100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with 50% coverage for dependents
Employer-paid life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance
401(k), pre-tax FSA, commuter benefits, and pet insurance
15+ days of paid time off and 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave
$100 per month wellness stipend and $1,000 per year learning and development budget
3-month paid sabbatical after four years of service
Biannual team offsites, San Francisco headquarters perks, and a loaner e-bike for commuting

About the Company

The hiring client builds the data layer for AI agents, transforming URLs into clean, structured data via API calls. The organization achieved eight figures in ARR in its first year, doubled that revenue in year two, and maintains over 180,000 GitHub stars. Operating with approximately 40 team members, the company recently closed a $75 million Series B funding round.

How to Apply

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States or Canada, as visa sponsorship is unavailable for this position. Apply on the official company careers page.

Skills and tech stack

GoRustPythonLLMRAG

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary for the Search Engineer role in San Francisco?

The base salary ranges from $235,000 to $260,000 USD, plus competitive equity.

Is visa sponsorship available for this position?

No, visa sponsorship is not offered. Candidates must already be authorized to work in the United States or Canada.

How many years of experience are required?

Candidates must have 3+ years of experience building and operating search or retrieval systems in production.

What programming languages are accepted for this role?

Strong backend systems programming skills in Go, Rust, Python, or a comparable language are required.

What does the interview process look like?

The process includes an intro chat, a technical chat, a founders chat, and a paid work trial lasting approximately 40 hours.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official lavendo careers page.

Apply on company site