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Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Search & Retrieval Infrastructure

PineconeUS RemoteR&D
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Salary
$190K - $270K USD
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Posted
5 Aug 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Role Overview

Pinecone is seeking a Senior or Staff Software Engineer for a full-time remote role in the US to design and build core components of next-generation AI knowledge retrieval infrastructure. This high-impact position suits backend engineers with strong distributed systems expertise who want to shape the future of enterprise-grade agentic systems and scalable vector search.

Key Responsibilities

Design and build scalable platform components utilizing advanced retrieval, such as query planning, semantic and hybrid search, metadata-aware search, and LLM generation.
Design and construct optimized indexing pipelines for both structured and unstructured data.
Build backend services for semantic and hybrid retrieval, knowledge graph construction, and retrieval orchestration.
Enhance retrieval quality through dedicated evaluation and observability frameworks.
Design intuitive APIs for internal and external users as well as agentic consumers.
Optimize latency, throughput, and cost across large-scale inference and retrieval workloads.
Drive technical direction focusing on reliability and security.

Requirements

Bring typically six or more years of proven track record shipping production-grade backends for large-scale systems with a focus on high throughput, low latency, and maintainability.
Demonstrate data engineering savvy with experience building high-throughput indexing pipelines handling unstructured and structured data.
Possess retrieval intuition with direct experience or deep theoretical knowledge in semantic search, vector databases, hybrid retrieval strategies, or traditional search engines like Elastic or OpenSearch.
Understand Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns, embedding pipelines, hybrid search techniques, query planning, and metadata filtering.
Exhibit language fluency with expertise in at least one major language such as Go, Rust, C++, Java, or Python.
Have familiarity with modern infrastructure tools including Kubernetes, cloud-native architectures, observability frameworks, and infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or Pulumi.
Show strong product thinking and the ability to navigate ambiguity in a high-growth environment.

Nice to Have

Experience building multi-tenant SaaS platforms.
Experience with retrieval evaluation frameworks to measure search result quality.
Experience with query planning or agentic reasoning loops, such as breaking down complex prompts into specific steps.

Skills and Tools

Python
Kubernetes
Java
Rust
C++
LLM
RAG
Terraform
Distributed Systems
Semantic Search
Vector Databases
Hybrid Retrieval

Salary and Benefits

Salary range of $190,000 to $270,000 USD per year.
Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, and mental health resources.
401(k) Plan.
Equity award.
Flexible time off.
Paid parental leave.
Annual Company Retreat.
WFH Equipment Stipend.

About the Company

Pinecone is the trusted AI knowledge company powering accurate, fast, and cost-effective AI applications for more than 10,000 customers and one million developers worldwide through its Database, Nexus, and Marketplace products. The company mission is to make AI knowledgeable.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Pinecone careers page to submit an application for this remote position.

Skills and tech stack

PythonKubernetesJavaRustC++LLMRAGTerraform

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary range for this position?

The salary for this role is between $190,000 and $270,000 USD per year.

Is this a remote role?

Yes, this position is US Remote.

What experience level is required?

The company looks for candidates with typically 6+ years of proven track record shipping production-grade backends for large-scale systems.

What programming languages are accepted?

Candidates should be experts in at least one major language such as Go, Rust, C++, Java, or Python.

What benefits are included?

Benefits include comprehensive health coverage, a 401(k) plan, equity awards, flexible time off, paid parental leave, an annual company retreat, and a work from home equipment stipend.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Pinecone careers page.

Apply on company site