Principal Search & Recommendation Engineer

Highspot

8+ Years | Seattle, Washington, United States (Hybrid) | Full Time | 3 months ago

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Job Summary

Highspot is seeking a Principal Search & Recommendation Engineer to lead the design and evolution of intelligent systems for discovery and personalization on their platform. This role involves working at the intersection of machine learning, information retrieval, and large-scale systems. Responsibilities include leading end-to-end development of search and recommendation systems, driving technical strategy in areas like relevance and personalized ranking, and collaborating with product and data teams. The role also involves mentoring engineers and fostering technical excellence. The ideal candidate will have 8+ years of experience in building scalable search or recommendation systems, deep expertise in information retrieval and ranking algorithms, strong programming skills, and familiarity with LLMs and vector search.

Must Have

8+ years of experience in search/recommendation systems
Expertise in information retrieval and ranking algorithms
Strong Python, Java, or Scala skills
Experience with ML/IR frameworks
Familiarity with LLMs and vector search
Proven leadership and mentoring skills

Good to Have

Experience with personalization
Published work in IR/ML conferences
Contributions to open-source projects
Experience with experimentation practices

Perks & Benefits

Competitive salary, equity, and benefits
Flexible work environment with remote options
Collaborative and inclusive team culture
Solve high-impact technical problems
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, and life benefits
Health Savings Account with employer contribution
401(k) Matching with immediate vesting
Flexible PTO
8 paid holidays and 5 paid days for Annual Holiday Week
Quarterly Recharge Fridays
18 weeks paid parental leave
Access to Coaches and Therapists
2 volunteer days per year
Commuting benefits

Job Description

About Highspot

Highspot is pioneering the category that is fundamentally changing the way companies increase sales productivity. On a mission to transform the way millions of people work with sales enablement, Highspot is committed to building breakthrough software with a spark of magic. We believe a great place to work is about more than the work – it’s about what the company stands for, and how it authentically represents its values in the real world. To this end, we have put intentional focus on creating equitable workspaces for each of our employees. Our goal is to create a culture where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging and is empowered to be an agent of change, with the ability to transform themselves, their workplace, and their world.

About the Role

We are seeking a 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.

What You'll Do

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.

Your Background

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.

Why You'll Love HIghspot

Competitive salary, equity, and benefits.
Flexible work environment with remote options.
Collaborative and inclusive team culture.
A chance to solve high-impact technical problems with a team that values craftsmanship, innovation, and growth.

To be included on job posting:

Base salary range: $180,870 - $272,174

Employees may also be eligible for bonuses, stock options, and other forms of compensation.

The above represents total expected compensation for this role. Actual compensation will depend on various job-related factors, including, but not limited to, location, experience, and job qualifications.

“Highspot also offers the following employee benefits for this position:

-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

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Equal Opportunity Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship, color, ethnicity, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or invisible disability status, political affiliation, veteran status, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Did you read the requirements as a checklist and not tick every box? Don't rule yourself out! If this role resonates with you, hit the ‘apply’ button.