Senior Software Engineer

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results. A Little About Us Yahoo Search is one of the most highly-scaled applications on the planet, serving millions of users globally. Our AI and Optimization team is at the heart of this ecosystem, powering the understanding, orchestration, and generative AI engines that define modern search. We are reimaging the future of Search, moving beyond links to provide intelligent, guided experiences. We hire world-class engineers who thrive in collaborative environments and are committed to technical excellence and rapid innovation. Responsibilities • Model Orchestration & Productionization: Partner with data scientists to transition research prototypes into high-performance backend services, leveraging AI-driven deployment pipelines to ensure seamless model integration. • Scalable Architecture: Design and operate high-throughput, low-latency APIs for Guided Search, applying AI-driven performance diagnostics to optimize system bottlenecks. • Lifecycle Ownership: Own the end-to-end serving lifecycle for ML-powered systems, from feature retrieval and online inference to automated monitoring and iteration. • Data Engineering: Build and maintain robust data pipelines using Spark/PySpark, implementing AI-augmented data validation to ensure consistency and freshness at scale. • Operational Excellence: Define and uphold production-readiness standards for scalability and fault tolerance in a distributed AWS environment. • Workflow Optimization: Identify and implement AI-driven efficiencies in the development lifecycle, utilizing AI pair-programming and automation to replace manual, repetitive engineering tasks. • Collaborative Leadership: Collaborate cross-functionally to translate product requirements into evolving backend architectures, acting as a lead for major portions of squad-level software solutions. • Instrumentation & Experimentation: Instrument services with advanced logging and metrics, using AI-assisted analysis to interpret A/B testing results and drive continuous improvement. Basic Qualifications • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field. • 4+ years of professional experience building large-scale, highly scalable backend systems (IC4 level). • Strong programming skills in C++ and Python, with a focus on writing production-quality, performant code. • Experience designing and implementing backend APIs and services within service-oriented architectures. • Proficiency in AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor) to accelerate code generation, debugging, and system optimization. • Hands-on experience with large-scale data processing frameworks such as PySpark or Spark. • Experience integrating and operating machine learning models within high-QPS backend systems. • Experience developing and deploying services within AWS environments. Preferred Qualifications • Experience with prompt engineering or structured interaction with LLMs to support generative AI feature development. • Commitment to staying current on emerging AI engineering tools and proactively suggesting improvements to the engineering workflow. • Knowledge of advanced performance tuning for distributed, cloud-based systems. • Experience leading small project workstreams or mentoring junior engineers in a collaborative environment. The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity. At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don't require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You'll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter! Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assista