Search Rust Engineer

Perplexity AI, Inc.

Job Overview

Location

Remote

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Join Perplexity AI, a trailblazer in the field of AI-powered search, and become a pivotal member of our dynamic and rapidly expanding team. We are on a mission to redefine how people access and interact with information, and you will play a crucial role in building the next generation of intelligent search experiences.
• As a Search Rust Engineer, your primary objective will be to relentlessly optimize the performance of our search infrastructure. This involves a deep dive into every aspect of our system, aiming to extract maximum efficiency and minimize latency at every stage of the search process. You will be instrumental in ensuring our systems are not only fast but also robust, scalable, and exceptionally reliable, capable of handling massive amounts of data and user traffic.
• Your responsibilities will span the entire lifecycle of our search stack. You will architect, build, and meticulously optimize ultra-low-latency search infrastructure, leveraging the power and efficiency of Rust. This includes designing and implementing core components that form the backbone of our search capabilities.
• A significant part of your role will involve profiling and instrumenting our services. You will employ advanced techniques to identify performance bottlenecks, understand resource utilization, and continuously drive down response times, even as our user base and data volume grow exponentially. This proactive approach to performance tuning is critical to maintaining our competitive edge.
• You will develop and maintain sophisticated distributed backend components that power our real-time search and retrieval functionalities. This requires a deep understanding of distributed systems, fault tolerance, and high-availability architectures.
• Collaboration is key at Perplexity. You will work closely with product managers, data scientists, and other infrastructure engineers to design and implement systems that deliver best-in-class query performance. Your insights will directly shape the user experience and the capabilities of our AI-driven search products.
• To achieve the demanding performance targets, you will apply advanced programming patterns. This includes leveraging Rust's capabilities in concurrency, efficient memory management, and high-performance network programming to maximize throughput and minimize resource consumption.
• You will be responsible for monitoring, debugging, and tuning production workloads. This involves actively observing system behavior under demanding traffic conditions, identifying and resolving issues swiftly, and making necessary adjustments to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
• A strong emphasis will be placed on code quality and knowledge sharing. You will actively participate in code reviews, providing constructive feedback to your peers and learning from their expertise. Furthermore, you will have opportunities to mentor other engineers, sharing your knowledge of high-efficiency Rust development and best practices.
• This role offers a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology at the intersection of AI, search, and systems engineering. You will contribute to a product that is already making a significant impact and has the potential to revolutionize information discovery.
• We encourage a culture of continuous improvement, where benchmarking and performance analysis are not afterthoughts but integral parts of the development process. You will be empowered to experiment with new approaches and technologies to push the boundaries of what's possible in search performance.
• Your work will directly impact millions of users, providing them with faster, more accurate, and more relevant search results. You will be part of a team that values innovation, technical excellence, and a passion for solving complex problems at scale.
• We are looking for individuals who are not only technically proficient but also possess a strong sense of ownership and a drive to make a tangible difference. If you are excited by the challenge of building high-performance, distributed systems that power the future of search, this is the role for you.

🎯 Requirements

• Deep expertise in Rust programming, with a strong focus on backend systems, particularly those involving search, data retrieval, or high-throughput processing.
• Proven experience in profiling, instrumenting, and optimizing high-load, low-latency distributed services in a production environment.
• Strong understanding of systems design principles, Linux internals, and advanced performance debugging techniques.
• Background in cloud infrastructure, with a preference for AWS, and experience with container orchestration technologies (e.g., Kubernetes).
• Track record of driving measurable efficiency improvements for search, data-intensive, or real-time systems.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment and take ownership of critical product code.

🏖️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous paid time off and holidays.
• Remote work flexibility.
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI and search technology.
• Professional development and learning opportunities.

Skills & Technologies

Rust

AWS

Linux

Remote

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Perplexity AI, Inc.

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About Perplexity AI, Inc.

Perplexity AI operates an AI-powered conversational search engine that answers queries by synthesizing live web information. The platform combines large language models with real-time retrieval, citing sources for transparency. Founded in 2022, the San Francisco-based company offers free and subscription tiers, mobile apps, and browser extensions, targeting consumers and enterprises seeking accurate, verifiable answers instead of traditional link lists.

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