Who We Are
Ema is building the next generation of AI solutions to transform enterprise productivity by automating document-intensive workflows across industries. Whether it's drafting custom documents, automating search and extraction, or enabling reasoning over complex document workflows (such as RFPs, prospectuses, or auditing processes), our AI-powered solutions are redefining how businesses approach repetitive tasks. Founded by seasoned leaders from Google, Coinbase, and Okta, Ema is a stealth-mode startup, backed by top-tier investors and based in Silicon Valley and Bangalore.
Role Overview & Key Responsibilities
This is a high-leverage leadership role that spans architecture, execution, and org-building, and will shape the direction of our search platform for years to come. We are seeking a Head of Search engineering leader to architect, scale, and own the core systems that power Ema's Search platform. This role is especially critical to building and scaling:
- Own the technical roadmap for Search at Ema this includes
- Core Search Platform
- Integrations internally with other application teams
- Integrations with partner teams
- Open API specs to bring in the data into Ema
- Set the roadmap for our Data Ingestion Platform which enables Ema to securely ingest, transform, and index data from documents, spreadsheets, emails, and SaaS systems.
- Our Application Integration Platform which connects Ema to hundreds of third-party APIs, allowing our agents to act across CRMs, ITSMs, HRIS platforms, and more.
- Design and scale our Search Platform, enabling structured and unstructured data to flow seamlessly into Ema for search, reasoning, and generation.
- Own the architecture and implementation of Ema's Search Index.
- Drive and collaborate with the LLMOps infrastructure: influence on how 1000s of transforms can be developed by external folks as well.
- Ensure platform support for diverse data formats (PDFs, spreadsheets, databases, charts, etc.) using PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, and other relevant tools.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
- 12+ years of experience in backend systems, lucene, elastic search, vector datastores, infrastructure and scale.
- Knowledge of indexing strategies, inverted indexes, sharding/replication, and managing large document corpora.
- Expertise in ranking algorithms (BM25, vector-based, hybrid).
- Familiarity with relevance tuning, query understanding, and search result evaluation.
- Proficiency with metrics (precision, recall, NDCG, MRR, etc.).
- Proven experience in building the search infrastructure and scaling real-time systems on the search engine.
- Deep understanding of knowledge search
- Deep expertise in cloud-native architecture, containerized services, and microservice orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Solid understanding of LLM-based pipelines, knowledge retrieval, and secure document processing.
- Strong experience with data systems like PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, and Redis.
Why Join Ema
- Work at the forefront of agentic AI systemsdriving real enterprise transformation.
- Own mission-critical platforms that make or break Ema's capabilities.
- Join an elite team of engineers, product thinkers, and AI researchers who value deep execution.
- Help define the architectural, cultural, and operational DNA of a company set to define a new category.
Ema's Culture & Values
- High Bar on Quality We value excellence and expect world-class execution.
- Ownership & Accountability We take full responsibility for our work and outcomes.
- Impact-Driven Approach We set ambitious goals and measure success through real-world impact.
- Team Collaboration & Growth We believe in continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and supporting each other.
- No Hierarchy, Just Execution Everyone is an individual contributor, focused on delivering results.
Join Ema and lead a team committed to delivering powerful, hands-on AI solutions that transform enterprise workflows.
