Principal Software Engineer - Search Algorithms - Elasticsearch

Elastic
Portugal
Full timeEUR 67,000 - 106,000Function: Software EngineeringSkills: ["Communication","Collaboration","Autonomy","Ownership","Problem-solving"]

Join the Elasticsearch Search team to enhance vector similarity search and deliver an industry-leading vector database experience. You’ll design and implement new vector search features, improve existing functionality, and resolve complex bugs, sometimes inventing algorithms or data structures. Work with a globally distributed team and open-source community on modern Java code across Lucene and Elasticsearch, taking expert ownership of vector similarity implementations and search relevance.

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FursaFursa
Elastic
Elastic
2 days ago

Principal Software Engineer - Search Algorithms - Elasticsearch

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Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 5 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Join the Elasticsearch Search team to enhance vector similarity search and deliver an industry-leading vector database experience. You’ll design and implement new vector search features, improve existing functionality, and resolve complex bugs, sometimes inventing algorithms or data structures. Work with a globally distributed team and open-source community on modern Java code across Lucene and Elasticsearch, taking expert ownership of vector similarity implementations and search relevance.
Location: Portugal
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Software Engineering
Seniority: Mid level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Lead initiatives within Elasticsearch to build and deliver a top-tier vector database offering with speed and relevance in search.
  • •Design and implement new vector search features in Elasticsearch and fix complex bugs while making the codebase easier to understand.
  • •Improve Elasticsearch vector similarity implementations and guide others by serving as the expert for this area.
  • •Collaborate with a globally distributed engineering team focused on vector search capabilities and deliver cross-team solutions.
  • •Engage with community members via issues and pull requests, triaging when needed and sometimes handling changes directly.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: EUR 67,000 - 106,000
Perks:Health InsuranceParental LeaveVolunteer TimePaid LeaveRemote Work

Key Requirements

  • •Professional experience with vector similarity and vector databases, using algorithms/libraries such as HNSW, IVF, or similar at search-platform scale.
  • •Strong core Java skills with data structures and concurrency constructs, including modern Java features like lambdas.
  • •Experience developing and owning projects end to end, including technical design and coordinating with other engineers to build required components.
  • •Comfort working collaboratively with strong communication for code, API, and approach feedback in a distributed environment.
  • •Experience with data storage technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra, and understanding their purpose and operation.
Experience:Vector databasesSearch platformsOpen source
Skills:CommunicationCollaborationAutonomyOwnershipProblem-solving
Languages:English
Tech Stack:JavaLuceneElasticsearchSolrHNSWIVFPostgreSQLMongoDBCassandraGitHubZoomSlack

Company Brief

Elastic
Builds the Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, Logstash) and provides search, observability, and security solutions that enable organizations to search, analyze, and protect data in real time across applications, infrastructure, and enterprises.
Industry: Data Infrastructure
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Revenue: USD 1B+
Growth: Public Company
Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)
Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed
Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Founded: 2012
WebsiteLinkedIn