Search Engineer

Job Description:

Assignment Duties:

The resource will play a key role in supporting the enhancement, modernization, and continuous improvement of enterprise search capabilities across both the client Intranet and Toronto.ca. Responsibilities will include:

• Supporting the assessment, enhancement, and optimization of search functionality to improve information discovery, navigation, and user experience across digital platforms.
• Collaborating with business, communications, content, and technical teams to identify search-related challenges, gather requirements, and recommend solutions that align with organizational objectives.
• Supporting the modernization of the Intranet search environment, including the evaluation, upgrade, and optimization of SearchBlox and related technologies to address longstanding employee concerns regarding search effectiveness and accessibility.
• Analyzing employee feedback, user behavior, and search analytics to identify opportunities for improving content discoverability and overall employee experience.
• Contributing to initiatives that enhance access to information for all staff, including employees who do not have regular access to City-issued devices or the City network.
• Supporting the development and implementation of search standards, best practices, metadata strategies, taxonomy improvements, and content optimization approaches to improve search relevance and accuracy.
• Assisting with the modernization of Toronto.ca by improving website search, navigation, and information architecture to better meet the needs of residents, businesses, visitors, and other users.
• Conducting user research, usability reviews, and search performance analysis to identify barriers to accessing information and recommend improvements based on industry best practices and user-centered design principles.
• Supporting the enhancement of search experiences across a large and complex web environment consisting of thousands of webpages, programs, and services.
• Working closely with technical teams, vendors, and stakeholders to support search-related upgrades, testing, implementation activities, and ongoing maintenance.
• Monitoring search performance metrics and preparing reports, recommendations, and presentations to support decision-making and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensuring search solutions align with accessibility requirements, digital service standards, modern web practices, and the City's strategic objectives for employee and public-facing digital experiences.

Qualifications:

• Proven experience with SearchBlox or similar enterprise search platforms (e.g., Elasticsearch, Apache Solr), including integration, configuration, and performance optimization. Particularly in environments using WordPress CMS and Single Page Applications (SPAs).
• Extensive experience in configuring SearchBlox collections, implementing structured data (like JSON-LD), optimizing content with meaningful titles, metadata, and descriptions, using SearchBlox's analytics tools for monitoring performance, and applying general SEO best practices such as keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building.
• In-depth knowledge of WordPress SEO, including content optimization, plugin configuration (e.g., Yoast, RankMath), resolving crawl issues, and enhancing technical SEO for WordPress-based websites.
• Demonstrated expertise in optimizing SPAs for search visibility, including JavaScript SEO, dynamic rendering, pre-rendering strategies, and improving indexing of dynamic content.
• Strong technical SEO skills, including site architecture design, structured data/schema markup, mobile SEO, canonicalization, crawl budget optimization, and resolving rendering and indexing issues.
• Proficient in scripting and automation (e.g., Python, Bash, or JavaScript), and experienced using tools like cURL to interact with APIs, automate SEO diagnostics, and manage large-scale search data workflows.
• Strong analytical capabilities, with experience using SEO tools and analytics platforms (e.g., Google Search Console, GA4, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog) to identify opportunities, monitor KPIs, and drive continuous SEO improvements.
• Effective collaborator and communicator, able to work with cross-functional teams (content, operations, development), articulate SEO strategy to non-technical stakeholders, and provide technical leadership and direction for SEO implementation.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent experience, with the ability to guide strategic SEO initiatives and ensure alignment with business and technical goals.

Deliverables:

• Development milestones will be communicated by supervisor alongside a full
• onboarding of the project scope.