Sr. Principal Software Engineer – Search & Recommendation Jobs

Highspot

Location:
United States, Seattle

Category:
IT - Software Development

Contract Type:
Not provided

Salary:

277391.00 - 342391.00 USD / Year

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Job Description:

We are seeking a Sr. Principal Search & Recommendation Engineer to lead the design and evolution of intelligent systems that power discovery and personalization across the Highspot platform. This role combines deep technical expertise, cross-functional collaboration, and strategic impact to shape how millions of users find the content, insights, and tools they need to win. You’ll work at the intersection of machine learning (both predictive and generative), information retrieval, and large-scale systems—helping elevate our AI capabilities while mentoring and guiding engineers across the team.

Job Responsibility:

Lead the end-to-end development of modern search and recommendation systems, from architecture to production deployment
Drive technical strategy and innovation in search relevance, personalized ranking, semantic search, and ML-powered retrieval/grounding
Collaborate with product, design, and data teams to define and deliver intelligent user experiences
Influence platform-level decisions on data pipelines, experimentation frameworks, and performance optimization
Mentor engineers, foster technical excellence, and promote a culture of learning and innovation

Requirements:

8+ years of experience building and scaling search or recommendation systems in production environments
Deep expertise in information retrieval, ranking algorithms, collaborative filtering, and/or neural search techniques
Strong programming skills in Python, Java, or Scala
experience with ML and IR frameworks such as Elasticsearch, FAISS, TensorFlow, or PyTorch
Familiarity with LLMs, embeddings, and modern vector search infrastructure
Proven leadership in cross-functional environments with a track record of mentoring and guiding technical teams
Strong grasp of MLOps practices and experience with cloud-native ML infrastructure (e.g., AWS, GCP)

Nice to have:

Experience with personalization, multi-objective optimization, or exploration/exploitation strategies
Published work in top-tier IR or ML conferences, or contributions to relevant open-source projects
Experience driving different experimentation practices for fast iterating search/recommendation quality cases

What we offer:

Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, and life benefits
Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution
401(k) Matching with immediate vesting on employer match
Flexible PTO
8 paid holidays and 5 paid days for Annual Holiday Week
Quarterly Recharge Fridays (paid days off for mental health recharge)
18 weeks paid parental leave
Access to Coaches and Therapists through Modern Health
2 volunteer days per year
Commuting benefits

Additional Information:

Job Posted:
December 09, 2025

Employment Type:

Fulltime

Work Type:

Hybrid work

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Sr. Principal Software Engineer – Search & Recommendation