Senior Java Developer – Search Core

10 Hours ago • 5 Years +

Job Summary

Job Description

Perplexity is seeking a Senior Java Developer to join their Search Core team. This role involves designing and implementing core search components, including a high-load ranking service and a distributed search coordination layer, and optimizing systems for performance and reliability. Responsibilities include designing and implementing new search components, building and optimizing data processing subsystems, integrating with data science solutions, and solving challenges in JVM tuning, concurrency, and system-level performance optimization. The candidate should be passionate about writing clean and efficient Java code.

Must have:

5+ years of Java development experience.
Deep understanding of JVM internals.
Knowledge of Python or scripting languages.
Passion for writing clean, efficient Java code.
Strong knowledge of algorithms and data structures.
Deep understanding of multithreading.
Experience building high-load, distributed services.
Expertise in real-time systems development.

Good to have:

Experience developing core search engine components.
Familiarity with cloud services and AWS infrastructure.

9 skills required

9 skills required for this role

Add these skills to join the top 1% applicants for this job

java

algorithms

multithreading

kubernetes

aws

data-structures

python

data-science

data-analytics

Job Details

Perplexity is looking for a highly skilled Senior or Expert Java Developer to join our Search Core team. This role is critical to building next-generation search products and technologies. You will help drive key decisions around the architecture, design, and implementation of foundational components in our technical stack.

Responsibilities

Design and implement new core search components, including a high-load ranking service, a distributed search coordination layer, and a fast-updating master data storage system
Build and optimize streaming and batch data processing subsystems for analytics and search index creation
Integrate with data science solutions for search index data analysis
Push the limits of hardware performance
Solve challenges in JVM tuning, concurrency, and system-level performance optimization
Optimize subsystems for reliable and consistent data replication within the core search stack

Qualifications

5+ years of hands-on experience in Java development
Deep understanding of JVM internals and performance tuning
Knowledge of Python or other scripting languages
Passion for writing clean, efficient, and scalable Java code
Strong knowledge of algorithms and data structures, with the ability to apply them effectively
Deep understanding of multithreading, including various approaches, challenges, and trade-offs
Experience building high-load, distributed, and hardware-adjacent services
Expertise in real-time systems development

Preferred Qualifications

Experience developing core components of search engines, trading systems, or database systems
Familiarity with cloud services, Kubernetes (k8s), and AWS infrastructure

At Perplexity, we've experienced tremendous growth and adoption since publicly launching the world's first fully functional conversational answer engine just over a year ago. Our AI-powered search assistant has amassed 10 million monthly active users as of early 2024, with our mobile apps installed over 1 million times across iOS and Android devices. In 2023 alone, we served over 500 million queries from users around the globe.

To support our rapid expansion, we've raised significant funding from some of the most respected investors in technology. In January 2024, we raised $73.6 million in a Series B round led by IVP, with participation from NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos' investment fund, NEA, Databricks, and other prominent firms. We followed that up with a $62.7 million Series B1 round in April 2024 led by Daniel Gross, valuing Perplexity at over $1 billion.

Our prominent investor base includes IVP, NEA, Jeff Bezos, NVIDIA, Databricks, Bessemer Venture Partners, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Naval Ravikant, Tobi Lutke, and many other visionary individuals.