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Search Engineer Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Nightwing

Prin. Software Engineer (Elastic)

Sterling, VA · On-site

... search APIs, Kibana Dashboards, Log Stash and Beats. • Using or creating plug-ins for ELK like ... Elastic Certified Engineer, Elastic Certified Analyst, or Elastic Certified Observable Engineer • ...

GDIT

Software Engineer - TS/SCI with Polygraph

Chantilly, VA · On-site +1

$158K - $214K/yr

Software Engineering Job Qualifications: Skills: Agile Methodology, Large Language Model (LLM) Fine ... Design and implement scalable search and retrieval systems leveraging Elasticsearch. * Develop and ...

GDIT

Software Engineer - TS/SCI with Polygraph

Chantilly, VA · On-site +1

$158K - $214K/yr

Software Engineering Job Qualifications: Skills: Agile Methodology, Large Language Model (LLM) Fine ... Design and implement scalable search and retrieval systems leveraging Elasticsearch. * Develop and ...

Anthem Engineering

DevOps Engineer

Chantilly, VA

$54 - $74/hr

... Engineer with experience in building, delivering, and maintaining high-performing, scalable ... network systems, search engines, and information servers. * Develop and maintain continuous ...

Anthem Engineering

DevOps Engineer

Chantilly, VA · On-site

$54 - $74/hr

... Engineer with experience in building, delivering, and maintaining high-performing, scalable ... network systems, search engines, and information servers. * Develop and maintain continuous ...

WorkNovas LLC

Machine Learning Engineer

Richmond, VA · On-site

... search and long-term agent memory Orchestrate LLM-based agents using frameworks such as LangChain ... Engineering, or a related field 5+ years of experience in machine learning, AI engineering, or ...

Anthem Engineering

Software Engineer

Chantilly, VA · On-site

Software developer roles and responsibilities include providing expertise in the full software ... systems, search engines, and information servers. * Troubleshoot development and production ...

Anthem Engineering

DevOps Engineer

Chantilly, VA · On-site

$54 - $74/hr

... Engineer with experience in building, delivering, and maintaining high-performing, scalable ... network systems, search engines, and information servers. * Develop and maintain continuous ...

Anthem Engineering

Software Engineer

Chantilly, VA

Software developer roles and responsibilities include providing expertise in the full software ... systems, search engines, and information servers. * Troubleshoot development and production ...

Anthem Engineering

Software Engineer

Chantilly, VA · On-site

Software developer roles and responsibilities include providing expertise in the full software ... systems, search engines, and information servers. * Troubleshoot development and production ...

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All JobsSearch Engineer JobsSearch Engineer Jobs in Virginia

Search Engineer information

See Virginia salary details

$56

$70

$92

How much do search engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jun 16, 2026, the average hourly pay for search engineer in Virginia is $70.38, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $60.77 and $81.01 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the search engineer role?

A search engineer designs, develops, and maintains search engine systems and algorithms to improve search accuracy and performance. They often work with data structures, indexing, and information retrieval techniques, and may use tools like Elasticsearch or Solr. Strong programming skills and understanding of machine learning are typically required.

How does a Search Engineer typically collaborate with other teams to improve search functionality?

Search Engineers often work closely with product managers, data scientists, and UX designers to understand user needs and analyze search performance. They collaborate with data engineering teams to ensure high-quality and well-structured data feeds, and frequently participate in cross-functional meetings to align on feature priorities and technical requirements. Effective communication skills are essential, as Search Engineers must translate complex technical concepts into actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders, ensuring that improvements enhance both search accuracy and overall user experience.

What is the difference between Search Engineer vs Data Scientist?

AspectSearch EngineerData Scientist
Required CredentialsBachelor's in CS, EE, or related; experience in search algorithmsBachelor's or higher in CS, Statistics, or related; strong analytical skills
Work EnvironmentTech companies, search engine teams, e-commerce platformsResearch labs, tech firms, finance, healthcare
Employer & Industry UsagePrimarily in search technology, e-commerce, and online servicesAcross industries like tech, finance, healthcare, and research

Search Engineers focus on developing and optimizing search algorithms and systems, while Data Scientists analyze data to extract insights and inform decisions. Both roles require strong technical skills, but Search Engineers are more specialized in search technology development, whereas Data Scientists work broadly with data analysis and modeling.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Search Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Search Engineer, you need a solid background in computer science, expertise in information retrieval, and strong programming skills, often supported by a relevant degree. Familiarity with search platforms like Elasticsearch or Solr, experience with large-scale distributed systems, and knowledge of ranking algorithms are typically required. Analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and effective communication distinguish top performers in this role. These skills are crucial for building efficient, relevant search experiences that meet both user and business needs.

What job makes $10,000 a month without a degree?

A Search Engineer can potentially earn $10,000 or more per month through specialized skills in search algorithms, data analysis, and programming, often in tech companies or startups. Success typically requires strong technical expertise, experience, and sometimes certifications, but a formal degree is not always mandatory if skills are demonstrated effectively.

What are Search Engineers?

Search Engineers are specialized software engineers who design, build, and improve search systems that help users find relevant information quickly and efficiently. Their work often involves developing algorithms for indexing, querying, and ranking large volumes of data, as well as optimizing search accuracy and speed. Search Engineers may also work with natural language processing, machine learning, and relevance tuning to enhance the user search experience on websites, apps, or internal databases.

What engineers make $300,000 a year?

Senior software engineers, especially those with expertise in areas like machine learning, cloud computing, or cybersecurity, can earn $300,000 or more annually, often including bonuses and stock options. High-level roles in tech companies, such as staff or principal engineers, typically require extensive experience, advanced skills, and sometimes certifications or specialized knowledge. Compensation varies based on location, company size, and individual performance.

What engineers make $500,000?

Senior software engineers, especially those working in high-demand fields like machine learning, cloud computing, or at major tech companies, can earn $500,000 or more annually. Achieving this level often requires extensive experience, advanced skills, and sometimes stock options or bonuses as part of compensation packages.

What Does a Search Engineer Do?

A search engineer has two primary responsibilities: to develop and program search engines and to optimize web content to achieve the best possible rankings in search results. As a search engineer, your job duties depend on your employer. If you work for a search engine company, like Google or Bing, then your job is to create the web application and algorithms that index websites and web pages to aggregate and rank search results. If you work for an e-commerce website or another business reliant on products or services, then your focus is on website analysis, keyword research, and content marketing.

More about Search Engineer jobs
What are popular job titles related to Search Engineer jobs in Virginia? For Search Engineer jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Search Engineer jobs in Virginia look for? The top searched job categories for Search Engineer jobs in Virginia are:
What are popular job titles related to Search Engineer jobs in VA? For Search Engineer jobs in VA, the most frequently searched job titles are:
Search Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Search Engineer job openings in Virginia as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 92% Full Time, 2% Part Time, and 6% Contract. Highlights an 92% In-person, 4% Hybrid, and 4% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $146,400 per year, or $70.4 per hour.

Senior Software Engineer - Fuzzer

Antithesis Operations LLC

Vienna, VA • On-site

$123K - $162K/yr

Full-time

Posted 12 days ago

Job description

About Antithesis
We've been quietly reinventing how the world thinks about software reliability, and we're just getting started! At Antithesis, we start at the foundations - we run entire software systems inside a deterministic simulation and break them in every way imaginable. Every issue then comes with a perfect reproduction, so you can identify root causes fast instead of spending days trying to recreate what went wrong.
The rise of AI-generated code has made this work more urgent than ever. Agents can write code faster than any human, but speed doesn't matter much when the output is buggy, stuck in review, or slipping through undetected. The verification bottleneck is real, it's growing, and solving it is one of the most consequential problems in software right now. That's what you'd be working on.
We're well-funded and deeply technical, the kind of place where the hardest problems get the most attention and the best ideas win regardless of who has them. If you want to do work that actually moves the needle on how reliable software can be, keep reading.
About the Role
At the heart of Antithesis is the Fuzzer, our autonomous search engine for bugs and one of the most technically ambitious components in our stack. It orchestrates actions and randomness, hunts for new system states and failure modes, and runs continuously without ever letting up. As a Senior Engineer on the Autonomous Search team, you'll own and evolve it. The problem space is genuinely unsolved, we have more ideas than we could possibly execute on, and the work you do will directly shape how it all gets figured out.
What You'll Do
  • Own core Fuzzer functionality: orchestrating how systems under test are explored, injecting controlled chaos, and navigating the state space to find bugs in simulated environments.
  • Make the Fuzzer smarter: improve code coverage, search efficiency, and expand the kinds of bugs it can discover.
  • Design clean, stable interfaces so the rest of the product and external systems like ML models and AI agents can plug in and configure search.
  • Build observability and benchmarking to measure Fuzzer behavior and guide development decisions.
  • Write clear design docs, mentor engineers, and contribute to the long-term roadmap.

What We're Looking For
We want engineers who think deeply about correctness, aren't satisfied with "it mostly works," and find the problem space of software testing genuinely fascinating. If you've looked at the state of software reliability and thought we can do so much better, you'll fit right in.
  • 5+ years of engineering experience working on complex systems, in industry or research.
  • Strong proficiency in Rust, Go, C++, or equivalent systems programming experience; safe, performant, idiomatic code is second nature to you.
  • Strong CS fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and systems design, with a habit of solving problems from first principles.
  • Experience designing clean interfaces between complex subsystems, and the ability to explain hard things clearly to any audience.
  • A genuine passion for software testing and correctness is a must, whether through building testing infrastructure, contributing to tooling, or just spending too much time thinking about why software is so buggy.

Bonus: Experience with fuzz testing frameworks like libFuzzer, AFL, or Honggfuzz; property-based testing tools like QuickCheck, Hypothesis, or PropTest; program analysis or formal methods; ML/AI-driven search; deterministic replay; or open-source testing contributions.
About Our Team
Our team spans CS degrees, philosophy, mathematics, and everything in between, or nothing formal at all. What everyone shares is a high bar for engineering quality. We work in-person because it's how we build trust and tackle hard problems together.
Location: This position is in office in Vienna, VA.

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