Opportunity at
ElasticSenior Software Engineer - Performance Tuning - Elasticsearch
Elastic is hiring a senior software engineer for its Elasticsearch Performance team. The role contributes to performance engineering by producing solid code and carrying out technical…
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About This Role
Elastic is hiring a senior software engineer for its Elasticsearch Performance team. The role contributes to performance engineering by producing solid code and carrying out technical analysis, with the aim of making Elasticsearch more optimized, predictable and scalable. The engineer works with the teams that own each product area. Responsibilities include taking optimizations from development to production, executing technical designs for architecture and code-level changes, and building performance models for…
Job Description
Elastic is hiring a senior software engineer for its Elasticsearch Performance team. The role contributes to performance engineering by producing solid code and carrying out technical analysis, with the aim of making Elasticsearch more optimized, predictable and scalable. The engineer works with the teams that own each product area.
Responsibilities include taking optimizations from development to production, executing technical designs for architecture and code-level changes, and building performance models for complex distributed systems. The engineer would profile how the system behaves to locate choke points in log handling, metric handling, vector search and ES|QL, and keep benchmarks and regression detection working for both stateful and serverless deployments.
Coaching teammates through code feedback and design input would be part of the job, as would building AI-assisted tooling that speeds up profiling, hypothesis testing and benchmarking. The team places weight on engineering quality across the group.
Strong candidates bring a solid grasp of how the JVM and Java internals manage memory, and they understand concurrency models. They have profiled and optimized distributed systems, used benchmarking tools such as JMH and Rally, and understand partition tolerance, how cluster state spreads, and the challenges of scaling large data stores.
The posted typical starting base salary range is $133,100 to $210,600 USD, with $159,900 to $252,900 USD for the select locations named in the posting. Compensation is base salary only, with no variable component, and the role is eligible for the stock program and a company 401(k) match.
Responsibilities
- Carry performance improvements from development through to production
- Turn technical designs into architecture and code-level performance work
- Create core performance models for intricate distributed architectures
- Trace how the system behaves to locate choke points across log handling, metric handling, vector search and ES|QL
- Keep benchmarks and regression detection working for stateful and serverless architectures
- Create AI-supported test rigs that make profiling and benchmarking faster
- Mentor colleagues through code reviews and design feedback
Requirements
- Solid grasp of Java internals and how the JVM manages memory
- Understanding of concurrency models and the ability to write fast, thread-safe, lock-free code
- Experience with large open-source or enterprise codebases
- Proven experience profiling and optimizing distributed systems, including benchmarking tools such as JMH and Rally
- Understanding of partition tolerance, how cluster state spreads, and the challenges of scaling large data stores
- Demonstrated use of AI and other advanced tools to make optimization work quicker and to automate benchmark runs
- Ability to collaborate within a team and work autonomously in a distributed setting
Qualifications
- Experience integrating native libraries such as C++, Rust or SIMD-accelerated code into Java
- Familiarity with storage engine performance, index modes and vector search tuning
- Experience setting and tracking service-level targets for distributed platforms
- Prior work on the core of a database or search product
Core Skills
Benefits
- Pay set by the work performed, not by previous earnings
- Health coverage for employees and their families in many locations
- Flexibility over work location and schedule for many roles
- A generous annual allowance of vacation days
- A company match of up to $2,000 for financial donations and service, or the local-currency equivalent
- Up to 40 hours per year for volunteer projects
- At least 16 weeks of parental leave
- Eligibility for Elastic's stock program
- A 401(k) match on a one-to-one basis, capped at 6% of eligible pay
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
What is the pay range?
The posting gives a typical starting base salary range of $133,100 to $210,600 USD, with a higher range for select locations. It states the role has no variable compensation component.
Where is the role based?
The posting does not specify a work location.
What experience does the posting ask for?
It asks for solid Java internals knowledge, experience profiling distributed systems and a history of applying AI or advanced tools to tuning work. The posting does not state a number of years.
Is this a full-time role?
Yes, the posting lists the employment type as full-time.
How do I apply?
The posting does not describe the application process.
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