Remote opportunity at
ElasticSenior Software Engineer - Storage Engine - Elasticsearch
Elastic has an opening for a senior software engineer on its Storage Engine team. The group develops the core storage and query technology that serves observability…
Career Tools
About This Role
Elastic has an opening for a senior software engineer on its Storage Engine team. The group develops the core storage and query technology that serves observability data inside Elasticsearch. It is globally distributed and fully remote. Current efforts aim to store data more efficiently, speed up ES|QL query processing, and shape data layouts so they work well on object storage. The position involves designing, building and tuning the storage and…
Job Description
Elastic has an opening for a senior software engineer on its Storage Engine team. The group develops the core storage and query technology that serves observability data inside Elasticsearch. It is globally distributed and fully remote. Current efforts aim to store data more efficiently, speed up ES|QL query processing, and shape data layouts so they work well on object storage.
The position involves designing, building and tuning the storage and query engine. Applicants who have built fast, large-scale database, search or distributed platforms, and who understand storage layouts, index construction, query planning and performance tuning in depth, fit the posting best.
Day to day, the engineer would lead changes to core storage components and hunt down slowdowns in index layouts, serialization formats and resource consumption. The job also includes leading cross-team observability initiatives, setting coding standards, acting as a subject-matter expert across Elasticsearch, and mentoring the wider engineering organization. Handling issues and pull requests from the public community, from triage to review, is part of the work, and the codebase is almost entirely modern Java.
Elastic describes itself as distributed by intention. Engineers communicate through email, GitHub, Zoom and Slack, review every code change, and reach major decisions by consensus. The posting suits someone who works autonomously and writes clearly.
The listed location is the United Kingdom. The typical starting base salary range is 791,300 to 1,251,700 NOK. Compensation is base salary only, with no variable component.
Responsibilities
- Guide how the core storage engine's components evolve over time
- Pinpoint and fix slowdowns in index layouts, serialization formats and resource consumption
- Own cross-team projects that push observability capabilities forward
- Champion system and process improvements, such as clean coding practices
- Serve as a go-to expert and coach for engineers across the company
- Handle issues and pull requests from the public community, from triage to review
- Write idiomatic modern Java
Requirements
- Track record building fast, large-scale database, search or distributed platforms, especially around storage, indexing, query execution and speed
- Strong command of core Java, including concurrency primitives and efficient data structures plus algorithms
- Practical familiarity with data stores such as Elasticsearch, Solr or PostgreSQL
- Demonstrated use of AI tools to shorten development and debugging time, while taking responsibility for the final results
- Able to work independently and drive decisions across a distributed team through asynchronous communication
- Clear and effective written and spoken communication
Qualifications
- Experience building with Elasticsearch
- Work on open-source projects, with comfort in version control workflows and CI pipelines
- Experience with data storage technology
- Experience leading cross-functional projects
- Experience developing database, search engine, operating system or cloud services
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
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 791,300 to 1,251,700 NOK. It states that the role has no variable compensation component.
Where is the role based?
The posting lists the United Kingdom as the location and describes a fully remote, globally distributed team.
What experience does the posting ask for?
It asks for experience building high-performance database, search or distributed systems, strong core Java and hands-on work with data storage technologies. 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.
Sample Interview Questions
AI-generated questions tailored to this specific role — a preview of the full practice set.