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ElasticSenior Java Software Engineer - Search Inference - Platform
This on-site, full-time UK role is for a Senior Java Developer on the Elasticsearch team, leading work on the Inference API. The API links Elasticsearch to…
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About This Role
This on-site, full-time UK role is for a Senior Java Developer on the Elasticsearch team, leading work on the Inference API. The API links Elasticsearch to outside machine learning services, including Elastic's hosted offering (EIS), third-party model vendors and self-hosted models, and it powers retrieval features such as semantic matching, reranking and generative AI within Elastic Cloud and hosted setups. The engineer keeps the plugin system and its REST interface…
Job Description
This on-site, full-time UK role is for a Senior Java Developer on the Elasticsearch team, leading work on the Inference API. The API links Elasticsearch to outside machine learning services, including Elastic's hosted offering (EIS), third-party model vendors and self-hosted models, and it powers retrieval features such as semantic matching, reranking and generative AI within Elastic Cloud and hosted setups.
The engineer keeps the plugin system and its REST interface in good shape and extends them across protocol design, streaming, asynchronous processing and billing hooks, working closely with the wider inference group and the Kibana team. Taking a turn in the on-call schedule for inference problems is part of the job.
Applicants need at least five years of real-world Java development, preferably on a sizeable, long-lived codebase, with dependable knowledge of the core language, collections, concurrency primitives and recent language features. Ability to design clear interfaces and weigh design trade-offs is expected, along with a habit of using AI to speed up development, debug intricate systems and tune code while keeping accountability for the result.
Responsibilities
- Create and sustain links to internal platforms and outside inference vendors, including streaming and error handling
- Help shape the plugin's architecture across task settings, chunking, throttling and provider configuration
- Evaluate open-source code from third-party developers against engineering standards
- Rotate through on-call duty for inference problems
- Build unit tests, YAML-driven REST suites and rolling-upgrade checks
Requirements
- Five or more years of production Java on a large, mature codebase
- Command of core Java, standard collections, concurrency utilities and modern language constructs
- Skill in creating ergonomic interfaces and reasoning about trade-offs
- Familiarity with low-level topics such as concurrency, parallelism and classloaders
- Working independently and collaborating across teams in a distributed environment
Qualifications
- Understanding of JVM internals such as the module system, memory model, garbage collection and caching
- Experience with ML systems, and authorship or stewardship of open-source projects
- Experience with Gradle, Maven or comparable build tools (Gradle preferred)
- Background on a platform or developer-productivity team
Core Skills
Benefits
- Compensation tied to the scope of the work, not to earlier salary
- Medical cover extending to family members in a number of locations
- Adaptable hours and places of work for many positions
- A generous annual holiday entitlement
- Donation matching of up to $2,000 (or local equivalent) for charitable giving and volunteering
- As many as 40 yearly hours for volunteer work of your choosing
- Minimum 16-week parental leave
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Is this role remote or on-site?
The posting lists the role as on-site in the United Kingdom.
What salary does the posting state?
The posting gives a typical starting base salary of EUR 61,100 to EUR 96,600. The role has no variable compensation component.
How much production experience is required?
The posting asks for five or more years of production Java experience.
Does the role involve on-call duty?
Yes. The engineer is expected to take turns in the on-call schedule covering inference problems.
Sample Interview Questions
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