Senior Software Engineer (Search)

• Communicate effectively in both written and verbal form with peers & decision makers 
• Demonstrate expertise in building enterprise search and retrieval systems (vector search, semantic search, RAG) across heterogeneous, multi-format data sources 
• Design indexing and retrieval architectures that maximize relevance, explainability of ranking decisions, and performance under real-time query load 
• Apply modern retrieval and ranking techniques (embeddings, vector search, semantic search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and entity resolution) to surface relevant results based on each user's role, access, and mission context
• Tenacity when tackling data access, permissions, and compliance requirements governing what each user can discover and retrieve 

• BS degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 6+ years of experience building and operating search, information-retrieval, or discovery platforms at scale
• Hands-on experience with modern search technologies (e.g., Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Solr, or comparable) and vector/embedding-based retrieval (e.g., a vector database or vector search library)
• Experience applying ML/NLP techniques to search, ranking, or retrieval problems - semantic search, RAG, learning-to-rank, or relevance tuning
• Experience designing systems that unify discovery across multiple, heterogeneous data types (text, structured data, imagery/geospatial, or similar)
• U.S. citizenship required; must be eligible to obtain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

• Prior experience supporting DoW or IC programs 
• Experience with geospatial or GIS data formats and search (e.g., OGC standards, feature services)
• Experience with access-aware or attribute-based retrieval, where results are governed by a user's role, clearance, or permissions rather than pure personalization
• Familiarity with enterprise metadata management, data cataloging, or data governance
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD tools such as Gitlab CI and ArgoCD
• Familiarity with Agile development framework 

We build software that enables humans to make informed decisions from raw intel data, with a specialization in satellite collection. We are a Dayton-based defense startup that believes there is a critical skill & culture gap - one we are filling with high-output, mission focused engineering talent. Results matter to our customers. We've never lost a customer because we deliver what they need. Awetomaton is where you do work that matters with a passionate team in an environment that inspires your creativity.