Software Engineer -

About the Company

Elastic develops search and observability technologies that help organizations find, analyze, and act on information at scale. Its technologies power modern search experiences across enterprise applications, data platforms, and AI-driven solutions.

The engineering organization works on large-scale search infrastructure and advanced technologies that enable fast, relevant, and intelligent information retrieval.

About the Role

Elastic is seeking a Principal Software Engineer – Search Algorithms to drive the evolution of vector search capabilities within Elasticsearch and help shape the future of high-performance vector databases.

This is a highly technical, hands-on, and autonomous role focused on algorithmic innovation, search relevance, performance optimization, and practical systems engineering. You will design and implement new vector-search capabilities, prototype advanced algorithms and data structures, solve complex production issues, and contribute improvements to the underlying Lucene search ecosystem.

Working with a globally distributed engineering team, you will take ownership of projects from concept through production while mentoring peers and helping advance AI-powered search technology.

Key Responsibilities

Lead strategic vector search initiatives focused on speed, relevance, scalability, and search quality.

Design and implement new vector-search features and performance improvements in Elasticsearch.

Develop algorithms and data structures that improve vector similarity search at scale.

Prototype new approaches and transition successful concepts into production-ready implementations.

Investigate and resolve complex software bugs and performance challenges.

Refactor existing components to improve clarity, maintainability, reliability, and performance.

Develop high-quality, idiomatic Java code for production systems.

Apply knowledge of concurrency, data structures, and systems engineering to complex search problems.

Work close to operating systems and hardware when required to optimize system performance.

Contribute improvements and enhancements to Apache Lucene and search relevance technologies.

Collaborate with globally distributed engineers through asynchronous and synchronous communication.

Engage with cross-functional teams to define technical direction and steer projects toward successful delivery.

Triage community issues, pull requests, and technical contributions as needed.

Maintain strong code quality, engineering standards, and technical documentation.

Share knowledge and mentor engineers and peers across the organization.

Use AI-assisted development techniques to accelerate software development and debugging.

Required Qualifications

Strong professional experience with vector similarity search and vector databases.

Familiarity with vector-search algorithms and indexing techniques such as:

HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World)

IVF (Inverted File Index)

Similar approximate nearest-neighbor algorithms

Strong Java programming skills.

Solid understanding of

Concurrency

Data structures

Algorithms

Search systems

Performance optimization

Demonstrated ability to independently own projects from initial design through production delivery.

Experience working with data-storage technologies such as:

Elasticsearch

Solr

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

Cassandra

Proven ability to work effectively in distributed and remote engineering environments.

Experience navigating multiple codebases and collaborating across engineering teams.

Strong problem-solving and debugging capabilities.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Demonstrated experience using AI tools to accelerate software development and debug complex systems.

Preferred Technical Expertise

Elasticsearch internals and search architecture.

Apache Lucene and search indexing technologies.

Vector databases and approximate nearest-neighbor search.

Vector similarity and relevance optimization.

HNSW, IVF, or related vector indexing algorithms.

High-performance distributed systems.

Java concurrency and systems programming.

Operating system and hardware-level performance optimization.

Search relevance engineering.

AI-powered search and retrieval systems.

Large-scale data storage technologies.

Performance profiling and optimization.

Production debugging and complex systems troubleshooting.

Search & AI Technology Focus The role is particularly suited to engineers interested in the intersection of search algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Key areas include

Vector Search

Vector Similarity

Vector Databases

Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) Search

HNSW

IVF

Elasticsearch

Apache Lucene

Search Relevance

Search Performance

AI-Powered Search

Data Structures & Algorithms

Distributed Systems

Java

Concurrency

High-Performance Computing

Collaboration & Engineering Culture

Elastic operates with a globally distributed engineering model that emphasizes:

Asynchronous communication

Remote collaboration

Knowledge sharing

Peer feedback

Technical ownership

Cross-functional teamwork

Autonomy and accountability

Continuous improvement

Engineers are encouraged to take ownership of complex technical challenges while collaborating with colleagues across teams and locations.

Benefits & Perks

Benefits may include

Competitive compensation

Health coverage for employees and their families

Flexible working locations and schedules

Generous vacation allowance

Donation matching of up to $2,000

Volunteer time allowance of up to 40 hours per year

Collaborative and feedback-driven work culture

Opportunities to work on advanced search and AI technologies

Why Join Elastic?

This is an opportunity for a highly experienced software engineer to directly influence the evolution of vector search and AI-powered information retrieval.

You will work on technically challenging problems involving algorithms, distributed systems, search relevance, performance, and large-scale data while contributing to Elasticsearch and Lucene. The role offers significant autonomy and the opportunity to shape technologies used by developers and organizations around the world.

Equal Opportunity

Elastic is committed to fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment where engineers and technical professionals can contribute their expertise, share ideas, and grow together.