[Remote] Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Search & Retrieval Infrastructure

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Pinecone is the leading vector database for building accurate and performant AI applications at scale in production. They are seeking a Senior/Staff Software Engineer to design and build core components of their next-generation knowledge retrieval system, focusing on scalable search and retrieval infrastructure for AI applications.ResponsibilitiesDesign and build scalable platform components leveraging advanced retrieval via query planning, semantic and hybrid search, metadata-aware search, and LLM generationDesign and build optimized indexing pipelines for structured and unstructured dataBuild backend services for semantic and hybrid retrieval, knowledge graph construction, and retrieval orchestrationImprove retrieval quality through evaluation and observability frameworksDesign APIs for internal and external user and agentic consumersOptimize latency, throughput and cost across large-scale inference and retrieval workloadsDrive technical direction for reliability and securitySkillsProven track record (typically 6+ years) of shipping production-grade backends for large-scale systemsDesign for high throughput, low latency, and long-term maintainabilityComfortable building high-throughput indexing pipelines that handle both unstructured data and structured schemasDirect experience (or deep theoretical knowledge) in semantic search, vector databases, hybrid retrieval strategies, or traditional search engines like Elastic or OpenSearchUnderstanding of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns, embedding pipelines, hybrid search techniques, query planning, and metadata filteringExpert in at least one major language like Go, Rust, C++, Java, or PythonFamiliarity and experience with modern infrastructure tools, such as Kubernetes, cloud-native architectures, and observability frameworksExperience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or PulumiAbility to design clean, intuitive APIs for both human developers and autonomous agentsComfortable in a high-growth environment and prefer 'owning a problem' over 'executing a ticket.'Experience building multi-tenant SaaS platformsExperience with retrieval evaluation frameworks—knowing how to actually measure 'good' search resultsExperience with query planning or agentic reasoning loops (e.g., teaching a system how to break down a complex prompt into multiple specific steps)BenefitsComprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, and mental health resources401(k) PlanEquity awardFlexible time offPaid parental leaveAnnual Company RetreatWFH Equipment StipendCompany OverviewPinecone develops a vector database that makes it easy to connect company data with generative AI models. It was founded in 2019, and is headquartered in New York, New York, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https://www.pinecone.io.Company H1B SponsorshipPinecone has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 3 in 2025, 4 in 2024, 5 in 2023, 1 in 2021. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.