Senior Specialist - Software Engineering

Job Title: Senior Back End Engineer – AWS Open Search

Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (Onsite)

Job Description 

Role Summary

• Need a seasoned backend engineer to design, implement, and operate a semantic search platform on AWS OpenSearch, focusing on vector search, index design/management, and high-throughput APIs. The role requires strong backend development skills in TypeScript, JavaScript, and/or Python.

AWS OpenSearch – Detailed Requirements

• Cluster Design & Management: Expertise in setting up and scaling
• AWS OpenSearch clusters for high availability and performance, shard/replica strategy, cluster sizing, and resource optimization.
• Vector Search Implementation: Hands-on experience with k-NN/HNSW algorithms for semantic search and managing vector indices for embeddings-based retrieval.
• Index Database Management: Proficiency in creating and maintaining index templates, analyzers, tokenizers, and custom mappings; implement ILM policies for rollover and retention.
• Query & Relevance Tuning: Deep knowledge of OpenSearch Query DSL, boosting strategies, hybrid search (BM25 + vector), synonym handling, and multilingual optimization.
• Data Ingestion & Pipelines: Build scalable ingestion pipelines for structured/unstructured data and embeddings; integrate with streaming/batch frameworks (Kafka, Kinesis).
• Security & Compliance: Configure IAM roles, VPC networking, encryption (at-rest/in-transit), and KMS for key management.
• Monitoring & Observability: Implement metrics, logs, dashboards for cluster health and query performance; set up s for anomalies and failures.
• Backup & Disaster Recovery: Manage snapshot policies, restore procedures, and failover strategies.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement vector search and index management in AWS OpenSearch.
• Develop and maintain backend APIs and services using TypeScript, JavaScript, and Python.
• Build scalable ingestion pipelines for documents and embeddings.
• Ensure performance optimization, observability, and reliability of search services.
• Implement security best practices and compliance measures.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and mentor junior engineers.

Required Skills

• Strong expertise in AWS OpenSearch including vector search and index management.
• Backend development experience in TypeScript, JavaScript, and Python.
• Knowledge of distributed systems, caching strategies, and API design.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and containerization (Docker/Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with observability tools and performance tuning techniques.
• Understanding of security practices and AWS ecosystem services.