Opportunity at
ElasticPrincipal Software Engineer - Search Infra - Elasticsearch
This full-time Principal Software Engineer position is with the Elasticsearch Search Infra group in the United States and is listed as on-site. The group is spread…
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About This Role
This full-time Principal Software Engineer position is with the Elasticsearch Search Infra group in the United States and is listed as on-site. The group is spread across the world and concentrates on a strong search experience, including contributions that improve search in Lucene. The job gives technical leadership to Elasticsearch's core search stack, which spans indexing, retrieval and relevance. The engineer defines, leads and contributes to the next wave of…
Job Description
This full-time Principal Software Engineer position is with the Elasticsearch Search Infra group in the United States and is listed as on-site. The group is spread across the world and concentrates on a strong search experience, including contributions that improve search in Lucene.
The job gives technical leadership to Elasticsearch's core search stack, which spans indexing, retrieval and relevance. The engineer defines, leads and contributes to the next wave of search and indexing features, keeps up with research on search infrastructure and retrieval algorithms, and helps partners and product teams plan where search should go over the long term. The role is also expected to be the recognised expert in several parts of the product.
A suitable candidate has led technical projects in search or distributed systems, mentored senior engineers and built a multi-year technical plan for a search or retrieval system. Experience with Elasticsearch, Lucene or Solr is important, as is strong core Java, including advanced data structures, concurrency and modern language features. The work calls for independence, careful written communication and a supportive approach to colleagues. The posting describes collaboration over email, GitHub, video calls and chat across continents.
Responsibilities
- Lead technical direction for indexing, retrieval and relevance in the core search stack
- Define and contribute to the next wave of search and indexing features
- Track research on search infrastructure and retrieval algorithms
- Help partners and product teams plan the long-term direction of search
- Serve as the recognised expert in several parts of Elasticsearch
Requirements
- Experience leading technical projects in search or distributed systems
- Experience mentoring senior engineers
- Experience defining a multi-year technical plan for a search or retrieval engine at the core
- Hands-on experience with Elasticsearch, Lucene or Solr
- Strong core Java, including concurrency and efficient data structures
- Ability to take projects from concept to completion with little direction
- Excellent verbal and written communication
Qualifications
- Background in large-scale data or search platforms
- Experience with open source projects and common source control and CI practices
- Prior experience building with Elasticsearch
Core Skills
Benefits
- Competitive pay set by the work performed, not by previous salary
- Health coverage for employees and their families in many locations
- Scheduling and location flexibility for many roles
- Generous annual vacation allowance
- Company match of up to $2,000 (or local equivalent) for donations and service
- Up to 40 hours a year available for volunteer work
- At least 16 weeks of parental leave
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Where is this role based?
The listing gives the United States as the location and marks the role as on-site.
Is the role full-time?
Yes. The listing states full-time employment.
What technical background is needed?
Strong core Java and hands-on experience with Elasticsearch, Lucene or Solr are needed, along with experience leading search or distributed systems projects.
Is a salary stated?
The posting does not specify a salary.
Are there bonus points?
Building with Elasticsearch before, experience in search and information retrieval, and open source project experience are listed as bonus points.
Sample Interview Questions
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