As a Principal Software Engineer, you will play a central role in advancing the core of Elasticsearch’s compute engine, focusing on the data-intensive capabilities exposed through the ES|QL query language. Your work will directly influence the performance, scalability, and expressiveness of analytics across the Elastic Search AI Platform.
What You'll Do
- Lead the design and implementation of foundational improvements in Elasticsearch’s query processing and execution engine
- Investigate emerging techniques in data processing, storage, and query optimization to guide technical direction
- Partner with product and engineering teams to align long-term roadmap decisions with user needs and system capabilities
- Establish architectural clarity in complex domains and serve as a go-to expert for deep technical inquiries
- Refine system behavior based on observed patterns, feedback, and performance insights
- Collaborate with UX specialists to ensure query interfaces are intuitive and powerful
- Support customer-facing teams building solutions on ES|QL APIs in search, security, and observability use cases
Requirements
- Proven leadership in data architecture and large-scale system design
- Strong background in developing and operating high-performance analytics platforms
- Experience mentoring senior engineers and shaping technical direction across teams
- Ability to define and communicate long-term vision for complex software systems
- Familiarity with search and analytics query languages such as Splunk SPL or Elasticsearch APIs
- Deep proficiency in Java, including concurrency models, standard libraries, and modern language features like lambdas
- Strong grasp of efficient algorithms and data structures, with a focus on optimization
- Hands-on experience with data storage systems such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra
- Understanding of internal mechanisms that govern how storage and retrieval systems operate
- Excellent communication skills, with a collaborative and empathetic approach to remote teamwork
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior contributions to Elasticsearch-based systems
- Background in search theory and information retrieval principles
- Experience contributing to open source software projects
- Familiarity with distributed version control and continuous integration workflows
Benefits
- Compensation tied to role and impact, not prior salary history
- Comprehensive health coverage available for employees and dependents globally
- Flexible work locations and adaptable schedules
- Generous annual vacation allowance
- Financial donation and community service matching up to $2000 per year
- Up to 40 hours of paid time annually for volunteer activities
- Family-friendly policies, including inclusive parental leave
