Development Manager (Java/ ML)

This role is eligible for our hybrid work model: Two days in-office.

Our Technology team is the backbone of our company: constantly creating, testing, learning and iterating to better meet the needs of our customers. If you thrive in a fast-paced, ideas-led environment, you’re in the right place.

Why this job’s a big deal:

Search is one of the most critical experiences in travel. Every query, every ranking decision, and every millisecond of latency directly impacts customer experience and revenue.

As a Development Manager for the Search Platform team, you will lead the engineering organization responsible for:

• Led full-stack development across React (FE), Node.js and Java (BE), building scalable, high-performance web and API-driven platforms.

• Search results retrieval

• Sorting and ranking systems

• ML-based scoring services

• The Unified Search orchestration layer that coordinates multiple verticals and services into a seamless customer experience

You will shape the technical foundation that powers scalable, reliable, and intelligent search experiences across markets and products. This role has significant influence over platform architecture, cross-team integrations, and long-term search strategy.

We are looking for a strong technical leader who can drive platform evolution, solve complex distributed systems challenges, and build high-performing engineering teams.

In this role you will get to:

• Provide constructive feedback and influence the performance and career development of high-performing backend and ML engineers.

• Hire, mentor, and grow engineering talent while fostering a culture of accountability and technical excellence.

• Own and lead the Search Results Platform, including: Search results retrieval systems, Sorting and ranking frameworks, Scoring services and ML model integration, API services powering search experiences, Experimentation and A/B testing capabilities

• Drive architectural decisions to ensure scalability, reliability, performance, and low latency.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Data Science, Analytics, and other engineering teams to translate business strategy into scalable technical solutions.

• Decide with senior management in developing long-term technology road maps and execution of existing initiatives.

• Lead multiple concurrent initiatives including planning, prioritization, estimation, and delegation.

• Improve operational excellence through monitoring, incident management, and performance optimization.

• Enforce accountability for the quality of software that is created.

Who you are:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or a related field or equivalent practical experience.

• Proven leader in hiring, mentoring, coaching, and performance management of engineering teams.

• Engineering leader managing full-stack and frontend teams ( Java, React, Node.js), delivering scalable web platforms, search systems, and ML-driven personalization solutions.

• Strong experience building and scaling distributed backend systems.

• Expert knowledge of Java, /or Python and API/Webservices best practices.

• Experience building or leading search, ranking, or relevance-driven platforms (e.g., Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Solr or similar).

• Familiarity with ML-based scoring systems and integrating models into production services.

• Experience driving development of high-scale, high-throughput systems and system integrations.

• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment and remove barriers to execution.

• Strong collaborator who can drive alignment across engineering and business stakeholders.

• Demonstrated history of living Priceline’s values: Customer, Innovation, Team, Accountability, and Trust.

• #LI-JB1 #LI-Hybrid

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. In addition to a competitive base salary, certain roles may be eligible for an annual bonus and/or equity grant.

The salary range for this position is $130,000 – $155,000.