As a Principal Software Engineer II on the Search Management team, you'll play a central role in advancing Elasticsearch's core search functionality. You'll design and implement high-impact features, resolve complex system issues, and contribute directly to Lucene, ensuring performance and clarity at scale.
What You'll Do
- Drive development of new, data-intensive capabilities within Elasticsearch, with a focus on maintainable and understandable code
- Collaborate with a global team of engineers to evolve search architecture, particularly for Elastic's Serverless platform
- Take ownership of technical initiatives from concept through implementation, including design, review, and integration
- Develop query logic using ES|QL, Elastic’s modern piped query language, to expand search expressiveness
- Engage with the open-source community by reviewing contributions, triaging issues, and improving system stability
- Act as a technical reference for teammates, sharing deep expertise in search algorithms and distributed systems
Requirements
- Strong command of core Java, including concurrency models and standard library data structures
- Experience applying modern Java features such as lambdas and streams in production systems
- Proven ability to lead technical projects independently and coordinate across engineering peers
- Effective written and verbal communication skills, with a focus on clarity and collaboration
- Ability to give and receive constructive feedback during code and design reviews
- Demonstrated empathy, respect, and trust in team interactions
Preferred Qualifications
- Hands-on experience building applications with Elasticsearch or similar search technologies
- Background in information retrieval, search engines, or distributed data systems
- Experience developing for SaaS or PaaS environments
- Prior work on storage engines or large-scale data infrastructure
- Track record of leading cross-functional technical initiatives
- Familiarity with open-source development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and version control systems
Benefits
- Compensation aligned with your contributions, not past earnings
- Comprehensive health coverage for employees and dependents
- Flexible work locations and schedules
- Generous paid time off and vacation policies
- Annual matching of charitable donations up to $2,000
- Up to 40 hours of paid time for volunteer work each year
- Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
- Equal benefits across regions, with accommodations available for disabilities
- Active support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
