Director, Engineering - Agentic Search & AI Components

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts. Job Category Software Engineering Job Details About Salesforce Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all. Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce. We are seeking an innovative and technically grounded Engineering Leader to spearhead the development of high-performance search indices and AI components. In this role, you will be the primary architect for the retrieval layer of our Agentic AI ecosystem, ensuring that our AI agents are grounded in accurate, real-time, and high-context data. You will lead a specialized team of engineers to bridge the gap between raw data infrastructure and the intelligent, agentic systems that drive Customer Success. What You’ll Do Architect Search & Retrieval Systems: Design and implement robust search indices that enable AI agents to perform complex retrievals across the Salesforce data ecosystem. Lead AI Component Development: Oversee the creation of the semantic layer and embedding pipelines necessary for grounding Agentic AI in Customer Success data. Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of data and AI engineers, fostering technical excellence and career growth. Strategic Roadmap: In partnership with product managers, define the technical vision for agentic retrieval, aligning search strategy with the broader migration to Data Cloud and the evolution of AI-driven personalized engagements. Operational Excellence: Establish rigorous standards for data quality, latency, and index freshness to ensure agents provide reliable, real-time insights. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Data Scientists, Product Managers, and the other engineering leaders to translate complex business needs into scalable technical solutions. AI Integration & Automation: Lead efforts to automate the data delivery pipeline, ensuring seamless integration between internal databases, third-party APIs, and the AI orchestration layer. What We’re Looking For A related technical degree required. Professional Experience: 10+ years in engineering, with a significant focus on search technology, vector databases, data engineering, and AI/ML infrastructure. Technical Proficiency: Deep expertise in Search Indices (e.g., Pinecone, Milvus, Redis). Experience with Workflow Orchestration tools like Airflow or dbt. Strong programming skills in Python, Java, or Scala, and experience with data frameworks like Spark and Pandas/Polars. Hands-on experience with Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure) and modern data warehousing (BigQuery, Redshift, Data Cloud). Hands-on experience with the Salesforce ecosystem (Data360, Agentforce, Service Cloud, etc.). AI & Data Science Domain Knowledge: Understanding of embedding models, LLM grounding techniques, and semantic layer construction. Soft Skills: Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical concepts (like vector similarity or RAG architecture) to non-technical stakeholders. Leadership Track Record: Proven experience managing engineering teams in a fast-paced, enterprise environment. Why Join This Team? You will play a pivotal role in building out Salesforce as an Agentic Enterprise. By building the components that power our agents, you are directly responsible for the operational efficiency and success of our internal stakeholders and global customers. Unleash Your Potential When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world. Accommodations If you require assistance due to a disability applying for open positions please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form. Posting Statement Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education. In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. The typical base salary range for this position is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable. We're Salesforce, the Customer Company, inspiring the future of business with AI + Data + CRM. Leading with our core values, we help companies across every industry blaze new trails and connect with customers in a whole new way. And, we empower you to be a Trailblazer, too — driving your performance and career growth, charting new paths, and improving the state of the world. If you believe in business as the greatest platform for change and in companies doing well and doing good – you've come to the right place. Apply tot his job