Principal Software Engineer - Search Algorithms - Elasticsearch

Elastic
Ireland
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeEUR 102,700 - 162,500Function: Software EngineeringSkills: ["Autonomy","Collaboration","Code review feedback","Communication","Debugging"]

Lead initiatives to advance Elasticsearch’s vector similarity and vector search capabilities, including designing and implementing new vector search features and improving existing functionality. You’ll work on algorithms and data structures that power speed and relevance, debug complex issues, and make the codebase easier to understand. Partner with a globally distributed engineering team and the community through code reviews, GitHub, and asynchronous collaboration.

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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

Lead initiatives to advance Elasticsearch’s vector similarity and vector search capabilities, including designing and implementing new vector search features and improving existing functionality. You’ll work on algorithms and data structures that power speed and relevance, debug complex issues, and make the codebase easier to understand. Partner with a globally distributed engineering team and the community through code reviews, GitHub, and asynchronous collaboration.
Location: Ireland
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Software Engineering
Seniority: Sr. Manager level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Lead initiatives to produce an industry-leading Elasticsearch vector database offering with fast, relevant search.
  • •Build and maintain Elasticsearch vector search features and fix bugs while improving code understandability.
  • •Design and implement new vector search algorithms or data structures, sometimes close to OS/hardware.
  • •Serve as an expert on Elasticsearch’s vector similarity implementation to guide others’ questions and decisions.
  • •Collaborate with the distributed engineering team and community members on issues and pull requests, including triage as needed.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: EUR 102,700 - 162,500
Perks:Health InsurancePaid LeaveParental LeaveVolunteer Time

Key Requirements

  • •Professional experience with vector similarity and vector databases at scale, including algorithms/libraries such as HNSW or IVF.
  • •Strong core Java skills and familiarity with data structures, concurrency constructs, and lambdas.
  • •High autonomy: take projects from technical design through implementation with other engineers.
  • •Hands-on experience with data storage technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra.
  • •Excellent verbal and written communication for collaborative development in a distributed setting.
Experience:Vector similarityVector databasesSearchAIOpen source
Skills:AutonomyCollaborationCode review feedbackCommunicationDebugging
Languages:English
Tech Stack:JavaElasticsearchLuceneGitHubSolrPostgreSQLMongoDBCassandraHNSWIVFVector similarity searchVector database

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