Software Engineer - Web Crawling
Tavily is hiring a Software Engineer - Web Crawling. Level rates it ; you can apply on Tavily.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this software engineer role Works on AI ●●●○: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- The posting mentions RAG, AI agents and AI automation among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a mid-level role.
- Tavily has 17 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
About Tavily
Tavily is building the search engine for AI agents. We believe the future of work will be led by AI agents, and that requires restructuring how the web is accessed. Our Search API provides web access for AI agents, enabling real-time internet search optimized for LLMs and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
We are backed by leading investors and serve developers and enterprises worldwide. Our team is fast-moving and ambitious. We ship quickly, iterate constantly, and care deeply about impact.
The Role
You'll build the systems that power how AI interacts with the live web.
You'll design and implement large-scale, intelligent web acquisition pipelines, making sense of an ever-changing online ecosystem and transforming it into structured, high-quality data.
This role blends technical understanding of browsers, networks, and automation with hands-on engineering.
You'll work on adaptive systems that navigate modern websites, understand evolving web interaction ,detection systems, and gather meaningful information safely, efficiently, and at scale.
Your work will directly shape Tavily's ability to provide AI agents with accurate, real-time knowledge of the world , bridging the gap between the open web and intelligent reasoning.
This position is based in Israel and requires existing legal authorization to work in Israel. Tavily is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.
What You'll Do
Build distributed data acquisition systems that capture and structure the live web
Investigate and analyze browser internals, fingerprinting, and anti-automation systems to develop stealthy, adaptive orchestration layers
Prototype and deploy intelligent automation frameworks using Playwright, Puppeteer, and low-level browser control protocols (CDP)
Conduct hands-on research into network flows, JavaScript-based protections, and emerging web standards affecting automation
Collaborate with AI and infrastructure teams to integrate real-time web data into retrieval pipelines and LLM-powered agents
Translate deep technical insights into production-grade components, balancing research freedom with engineering rigor
Continuously evolve Tavily's capabilities in resilience, speed, and authenticity of web interaction
What We're Looking For
3–5 years of experience as a backend or systems engineer, ideally working with large-scale, distributed, or web-facing infrastructure
Strong programming skills in Python or Node.js, with experience in Go or C++ considered a strong plus
Proven experience building and maintaining browser automation systems (Playwright, Puppeteer, or CDP) in production environments
Solid understanding of browser internals, network protocols, and web interaction mechanisms
Experience designing high-performance, resilient systems that handle scale, concurrency, and complex orchestration
Strong debugging and analytical skills - able to investigate edge cases, performance bottlenecks, and behavior under dynamic web conditions
Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment, collaborating closely with product, AI, and infrastructure teams to ship reliable systems quickly
Excellent documentation and communication skills to ensure smooth integration and operational visibility
Nice to Have
Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, containerization (Docker), Kubernetes, and CI/CD
Experience integrating AI or retrieval systems into production pipelines
How we rate this
Software Engineer - Web Crawling at Tavily rates 68 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in software engineer jobs at this level
Pay
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical software engineer figure when pay comes up. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- How would you design a retrieval step so the model answers from real data instead of guessing?
- How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
- Tell me about a workflow you automated with AI tools, end to end.
- Describe a typical day in a role like this one: which parts run through AI directly?
- If you removed AI from this role, what would be left, and how do you decide what still needs a human?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: RAG, AI agents, and AI Automation. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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