Staff Backend Engineer, Search

At ClickUp, we’re not just building software. We’re architecting the future of work! In a world overwhelmed by work sprawl, we saw a better way. That’s why we created the first truly converged AI workspace, unifying tasks, docs, chat, calendar, and enterprise search, all supercharged by context-driven AI, empowering millions of teams to break free from silos, reclaim their time, and unlock new levels of productivity. At ClickUp, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, use, and pioneer AI in ways that shape not only our product, but the future of work itself. Join us and be part of a bold, innovative team that’s redefining what’s possible! 🚀

ClickUp is seeking a talented and experienced Staff Search Engineer to join our team and help revolutionize our search capabilities. As a key member of our engineering team, you'll be responsible for optimizing and enhancing our search functionality, which is a critical feature of our platform and underpins our AI efforts.

Your impact at ClickUp

As a Staff Engineer on the search squad, you'll be responsible for designing, optimizing, and scaling our search infrastructure. You'll work with OpenSearch / ElasticSearch technologies to ensure users can instantly find exactly what they need across their workspace. Your expertise will directly contribute to making ClickUp the most intuitive and responsive productivity platform available.

Core Responsibilities

• Design and implement robust search solutions that scale with our rapidly growing user base

• Improve search relevance, accuracy, and speed to deliver the most relevant results to users at blazing fast speeds

• Improve out real-time indexing pipelines to ensure search results remain up-to-date

• Create measurement frameworks to evaluate and improve search quality

• Build and enhance vector search capabilities to power next-generation search experiences

• Collaborate with AI, backend, and product teams to integrate search into new features

• Troubleshoot complex search-related issues at scale

• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to engineering best practices

Technical requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

• 7+ years of experience as a search engineer or in a directly related role

• Strong expertise in search technologies, particularly OpenSearch / ElasticSearch

• Experience measuring and optimizing search quality

• Experience with high-volume, distributed data processing systems

• Proven ability to optimize query parsing, indexing, and relevance tuning for search systems

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across teams

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience with vector embeddings and semantic search implementations

• Experience with TypeScript in backend systems

• Track record of architecting search solutions that maintain performance under heavy load

• Experience applying machine learning and NLP to enhance search relevance

• Knowledge of information retrieval concepts and search evaluation metrics

Join Our Mission

At ClickUp, we're committed to building the future of productivity software. As our Search Engineer, you'll play a crucial role in shaping the core functionality of our platform and driving our AI initiatives forward. Join us in our mission to make the world more productive!

#LI-REMOTE

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Unsure if you meet all the qualifications of this job description but are deeply excited about the role? We hire based on ambition, grit, and a passion for improving the way people work. If you think ClickUp is the company for you, we encourage you to apply!

At ClickUp, we assess every candidate based on the potential impact they can have. We hire the best people for the job and support each person’s journey to build their boldest career.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ClickUp is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

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Please note we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for roles outside of engineering and product at this time. Sponsorship for engineering and product roles is not guaranteed, but is instead based on the business needs for that specific role at that time. Please reach out to the recruiter with any questions.

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