Staff Software Engineer - Search

Be Essential At Cars Commerce

At Cars Commerce, we’re fanatical about simplifying everything about car buying and selling. We do right by our customers and consumers to better connect the industry with simplified and tierless technology to enhance, measure and drive local automotive retail. Whether through our No.1 most recognized marketplace, Cars.com, our industry-leading digital experience, Dealer Inspire, our trade and appraisal technology, AccuTrade, our reputation-based digital wholesale auction marketplace, Dealerclub, or our new Cars Commerce Media Network, Cars Commerce is essential for success in the automotive industry.

No one ever travels alone here: at its core, Cars Commerce is collaboration. In fact, it’s built into the very fabric of our shared values. We like to say we Rise Together – putting people at the center of what we do, from consumer to customer to community. Life at Cars Commerce makes it easy when we share the ethos to be Open to All, encouraging open-minded communication because we know diverse thinking yields better outcomes. But critical to our success is Caring to Challengeand Taking Ownership, fueling a competitive spirit in a respectful environment where we think about tomorrow but act today. At our foundation, we have integrity, Doing the Right Thing, even when it’s hard. It’s our shared commitment to these values that makes Cars Commerce a place where growth becomes not only possible, but downright unavoidable.

But don’t take our word for it. As a U.S. News & World Report Best Company to Work For in 2024, we're obsessive about the employee experience. We are among the top 20% being declared “Best” of our industry based on six critical factors that are important to employee wellbeing, like quality of pay, benefits, work life balance and more.

[This is a 100% remote role. May require onsite interviews]

About The Role

Join us in shaping the future of Automotive Commerce. Cars Commerce builds solutions for automotive dealerships, manufacturers, and consumers. Our driving force is to deliver a single platform that simplifies everything about buying and selling cars.

Our Marketplace Engineering Team drives our cars.com platform. We are on a transformational journey, building innovative and integrated services that redefine how we deliver value to our customers and consumers.. As a Staff Software Engineer on our Marketplace Engineering Team, you will help revitalize our customer-facing tooling across our platform with a comprehensive technical strategy to simplify and amplify these user experiences and the capabilities they enable. This is an exceptional opportunity to shape the future of our platform and drive meaningful change at scale, making a lasting impact within the automotive industry.

This is an exciting role because as a Staff Software Engineer with the Marketplace Team, you will help tens of millions of people like you and me find their perfect car match each year, with our 4.7 star rated Android and 4.8 star rated iOS apps being a critical part of our strategy.

We are seeking candidates who possess deep expertise in backend - search and browser technologies, a passion for thoughtful user experience design, and the ability to develop search services that are innovative, intuitive, and impactful for our users.

About You

You’re an experienced, results-oriented, Staff Software Engineer who blends technical depth with product sensitivity. You’ve built and evolved design systems. You are a highly skilled and motivated Staff Software Engineer that will help us redefine our search capabilities within our listings marketplace. In this role you will be instrumental in designing, developing, and scaling our next-generation search capabilities.. This is an exciting opportunity to own significant technical challenges, drive architectural decisions, and mentor other engineers within a dynamic and growing team.

You’ll work across team boundaries to design and develop components as well as performance-optimized backend systems that scale across cars.com - Marketplace Engineering Team.

Why You'll Be Excited About This Role

This opportunity enables you to...

• Lead the technical vision and execution for our consumer-facing search capabilities within our listings marketplace.
• Design, develop, and maintain robust Server-Driven UI (SDUI) APIs using GraphQL to enable dynamic, flexible client interfaces across mobile and web platforms.
• Write high-performance and reliable backend services utilizing languages such as Elixir, NodeJS, or Python.
• Drive the technical strategy for server-driven UI approaches, enabling rapid feature deployment and A/B testing without client updates.
• Explore and integrate agentic AI technologies to enhance search relevance, personalization, and intelligent recommendations.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and other engineers to define and deliver impactful search features.
• Ensure the performance, reliability, and security of the search platform.
• Contribute to code reviews, technical documentation, and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in search technologies, backend development, and AI.

We're Excited About You Because You Have …

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of professional software development experience, with a significant focus on backend systems.
• Experience being a technical leader in a 100% remote environment, influencing stakeholders across design, engineering, and technology, both within your own organization and across an enterprise.
• Strong proficiency in Elixir or another functional programming language (e.g., Erlang, Haskell) and a willingness to learn Elixir quickly.
• Experience designing and implementing GraphQL APIs.
• Familiarity with server-driven UI concepts and implementation approaches.
• A strong interest in and understanding of agentic AI and its potential applications in search.
• Experience with AWS cloud platforms.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices, including testing, continuous integration, and continuous deployment.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.
• A proactive and ownership-oriented mindset.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with search technologies like OpenSearch, ElasticSearch, or Solr.
• Experience with machine learning and natural language processing techniques relevant to search.
• Contributions to open-source projects.
• Experience with performance tuning and optimization of large-scale distributed systems.
• Familiarity with front-end technologies (e.g., React, Redux, Android, iOS, etc)

In the spirit of pay transparency, we are excited to share the base salary range for this position. In addition to base salary, some roles are eligible for our bonus and/or equity programs, depending on level and role. Regular full-time positions are eligible for our comprehensive benefits package. If you are hired at Cars Commerce, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills and/or experience. If the salary range is close to what you're seeking, then we encourage you to apply and learn more about the total compensation package for this position.

Salary Range

$154,200.00-192,750.00

Our Comprehensive Benefits Package Includes

• Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans
• New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up
• Generous PTO
• Refuel - a service based recognition program where employees receive additional paid time away to learn grow and reset
• Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day

Learn more about our Benefits, Perks, & Culture on our LinkedIn Life Pages!

For US-based Positions: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Please note that we are unable to sponsor employment visas at this time.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. California Applicants: Click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Applicants. For current employees, please click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Employees.