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Senior Software Developer - Vector Search - Elasticsearch

Elastic· Platform - Elasticsearch
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RemoteCA$128.3k - CA$203kfull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Senior Software Engineer on the Elasticsearch - Search Relevance team focused on vector search capabilities and search relevance, contributing to design, implementation, and optimization of new features and improvements in a globally distributed environment.

Responsibilities

  • Lead initiatives within Elasticsearch to produce an industry-leading search engine offering, supplying unparalleled speed and relevance in search.
  • Contribute to Elasticsearch full time, building new search features and fixing intriguing bugs, including potentially inventing new algorithms or data structures and integrating close to OS/hardware aspects.
  • Work with a globally distributed team of experienced engineers focused on the vector search capabilities of Elasticsearch.
  • Be an expert on Elasticsearch search relevance, identifying and driving improvements based on questions and instincts.
  • Engage with community members worldwide on issues and pull requests, triaging or handling them as needed.
  • Write idiomatic modern Java — Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java!

Qualifications

  • Implemented novel techniques in vector similarity on a search platform with a large user base or contributed to academic research in vector similarity information retrieval.
  • Professional experience with search or vector databases, using HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms and libraries at scale on search platforms.
  • Solid skills in core Java and familiarity with standard library data structures and concurrency constructs, plus features like lambdas.
  • Ability to work autonomously from design to delivery and mentor others, with experience in technical design and cross-team collaboration.
  • Comfort developing collaboratively and providing/receiving feedback on code, with preference for asynchronous collaboration.
  • Experience with multiple data storage technologies (e.g., Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra) and understanding of their trade-offs.
  • Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code while owning outcomes.
  • Ability to collaborate across functions and transition between projects or codebases based on priorities.
  • Self-driven and capable of distributed, asynchronous, transparent communication.

Skills

Required:JavaVector similarity / vector databasesSearch relevanceDistributed collaborationData storage technologies

Benefits

  • Company stock program eligibility
  • RRSP with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings
  • Competitive pay
  • Health coverage for employee and family in many locations
  • Flexible locations and schedules for many roles
  • Generous vacation days
  • Volunteer time allowance (up to 40 hours per year)
  • Parental leave with a minimum of 16 weeks
Last updated Sep 3, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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