Staff Engineer, Search Systems

Responsibilities

• Own the cross-system data infrastructure layer for next-generation MongoDB Search and Vector Search, with outcomes spanning 6–18 months.
• Define the technical roadmap for Atlas Search, identify gaps, propose solutions, and drive alignment across global engineering teams.
• Lead the architecture and evolution of the core mongot and Mongo Management Service infrastructure, making decisions about durability, consistency, and scale.
• Drive complex, multi-team initiatives by building technical consensus, navigating ambiguity, and setting technical direction.
• Advise leadership on roadmap, architecture, and engineering processes.
• Mentor engineers, conduct rigorous code reviews, and share knowledge to raise the team’s technical capabilities.
• Standardize engineering team contracts and interfaces to reduce coordination costs and improve execution velocity.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in data management systems or related distributed infrastructure.
• Deep proficiency in modern programming languages and techniques; Java fluency preferred.
• Experience designing and operating distributed systems, cloud services, or SaaS products at scale.
• Ability to reason about data consistency, durability guarantees, concurrency, and failure modes in distributed environments.
• Track record operating at Staff or Principal scope, including defining technical direction, resolving cross-team ambiguity, and championing initiatives from conception through delivery.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience designing or maintaining search platforms or distributed databases.
• Experience debugging and profiling multithreaded JVM applications and distributed systems.
• Experience with Apache Lucene, MongoDB Search, Vector Search, or database infrastructure.

Compensation

• Base salary: $151,000–$297,000 annually.
• Additional compensation and benefits may include equity, employee stock purchase plan, flexible paid time off, parental leave, fertility and adoption assistance, 401(k), mental health counseling, and health benefits.