Java Search Infrastructure Engineer

Join Shopify's dynamic engineering team, where code is core and innovation drives commerce forward. As a Java Search Infrastructure Engineer, you'll build distributed systems that power search query serving across billions of products. Collaborate with platform engineers and SREs to create scalable, resilient search infrastructure that helps merchants succeed at the infinite game of entrepreneurship.

Key Responsibilities

Build high-throughput scatter-gather systems that coordinate queries across hundreds of shards and aggregate results efficiently.

Own search APIs end-to-end—interface design, load balancing, circuit breaking, and graceful degradation.

Optimize networking and JVM performance—connection pooling, request batching, GC tuning, and profiling for high-load scenarios.

Design comprehensive observability through structured logging, metrics, and distributed tracing.

Build A/B testing frameworks enabling data-driven experimentation at scale.

Solve distributed systems challenges—consistency, availability, latency tail tolerance, and failure handling.

Qualifications

Proven expertise in Java for building production distributed systems at scale.

Experience with search infrastructure, particularly scatter-gather patterns and distributed query execution.

Experience with service frameworks—Thrift, gRPC, or similar RPC frameworks.

Observability expertise—building logging pipelines, metrics infrastructure, distributed tracing.

Load balancing and A/B testing experience—consistent hashing, adaptive routing, experiment design.

Strong collaboration skills, working with cross-disciplinary teams including platform engineers and data scientists.

About the discipline

Engineering. It's our DNA.

Engineering isn't a department at Shopify. It's our DNA. The engineers who thrive here care about the code, the system, and the merchants relying on both. They want hard problems and uncomfortable growth. They find solutions without waiting for permission. They ship weekly. They want commerce to work better for everyone. So does our founder, Tobi, who still codes and still shapes where this thing is going.

They're open source nerds. They pair program because two brains write better code than one. New tools, new models, new approaches. They experiment constantly. Most of what's standard here started as someone hacking on something.

They use AI like a keyboard, reflexively and everywhere, to clear the mundane and make room for thinking. And they work in the open. The fastest way to learn here is to watch someone better than you do the work. If that sounds like you, come build with us.

Infrastructure Engineers at Shopify build and maintain the systems that handle millions of requests per second and billions of dollars in transactions. At that scale, performance gains matter and weak assumptions surface quickly. Your systems power the experience for millions of entrepreneurs and buyers every minute of every day, including peak events like Black Friday.

Engineers at Shopify spend the majority of their time actually writing code to build and improve infrastructure. You'll solve problems that don't exist anywhere else, with challenges that push what's possible. If that lights you up, come build with us.

Growth and rewards

Mastery-matched compensation.

~Mastery

At Shopify, getting better at your craft and increasing your impact is how you grow. Twice a year, we assess both in our ~Mastery cycle, Shopify's performance review. Achieving higher ~Mastery is a promotion, and when you earn a promotion your total rewards grow with it. Crafter and manager are equal paths, so you can pursue excellence in the craft you're best at.

Total Rewards

With Flex Comp, your Rewards Wallet gives you agency over your compensation mix. Adjust your mix of cash, restricted share units, and stock options (including programs like Long-Term Equity)* to where it makes sense for you, and mix it up anytime as life and priorities change. Buying a house? Want more skin in the game? Just experimenting? It's your call.

* Flex Comp program offerings vary based on location, role, and employment type. Full details are set out in our Terms & Conditions and related plan documents.

Built for real life

Room for the rest of your life.

Flexible work, remote by design

A flexible vacation policy means most Shopifolk can take the vacation days they feel they need to recharge.

If a change of everyday scenery is more your jam, Destination 90 means you can work from (almost) anywhere in the world for 90 days of the year.

Your setup

• Your battlestation is your home base. Request the desk, chair, and AV gear you need to get shit done.
• Our health and welfare benefits may include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance depending on your country.
• If you're in a country without a package, you'll receive a monthly allowance.
• We also offer mental health support for you and your dependents, including immediate and confidential services like counseling and coaching sessions.

Family support

• We offer fertility benefits globally, along with paid parental leave to welcome a new family member.

The Life Story is how we understand the themes of your career journey so far, human to human. What you've learned, and how you made a difference. Show us the trophies and the bruises: the problems you've solved, the challenges you encountered, the decisions you made, and the lessons you learned along the way.