Software Engineer III, YouTube Shopping Search, AI

Job description

In most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.
Minimum qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 2 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages, or 1 year of experience with an advanced degree.
• 2 years of experience with full stack development, across back-end such as Java, Python, Golang, or C++ codebases, and front-end experience including JavaScript or TypeScript, HTML, CSS or equivalent.
Preferred qualifications:
• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science or related technical fields.
• 2 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
• Experience developing accessible technologies.
• Experience integrating generative AI tools or LLM interfaces into workflows.
About the job
Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.
In this role, you will design, build, and launch end-to-end generative AI and agentic capabilities that help viewers research, compare, and buy products recommended by creators they trust. Working across the YouTube Shopping and Search stack, you will develop LLM prompts, modular skills, tool integrations (such as live product catalog and affiliate offer retrieval), and interactive shopping UI components (such as product comparison tables, shoppable video indicators, and seamless Search-to-Watch handoffs). You will partner closely with engineers, TLs, PMs, and UX designers across YouTube Shopping and core YouTube Search/Ask teams to take features from rapid prototyping and offline evaluation (Autoraters) to A/B experimentation and global production launch.
At YouTube, we believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share, and build community through our stories. We work together to give everyone the power to share their story, explore what they love, and connect with one another in the process. Working at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and boundless creativity, we move at the speed of culture with a shared goal to show people the world. We explore new ideas, solve real problems, and have fun — and we do it all together.
Responsibilities
• Build agentic workflows, modular LLM skills, prompts, and backend tool integrations for conversational responses in live, verified YouTube Shopping product metadata and creator perspectives.
• Improve the retrieval, ranking, and personalization of shopping results—ensuring shoppable videos and product offers are tailored to user preferences across both Ask YouTube and traditional YouTube Search.
• Build evaluation pipelines (LLM Autoraters, golden datasets) and run live A/B experiments to optimize answer quality, factuality, latency, and core shopping metrics (such as Shopping DAU and Good Offer Clicks).
• Collaborate with partner teams across YouTube Search, Ask YouTube, and Shopping Infrastructure, and cross-functional peers in PM and UX, to shape technical designs and deliver outcomes.
• Design and launch AI shopping experiences on YouTube search and Ask YouTube (together with TLs, PMs, UXDs), including product comparisons, shoppable video treatments, and seamless Search-to-Watch handoffs.
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form .