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Senior Software Engineer - Search Algorithms - Elasticsearch

Elastic· Platform - Elasticsearch
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Hybrid (Distributed)€61.1k - €96.6kfull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Senior Software Engineer role within the Elasticsearch - Search Relevance team, contributing to the technical direction and implementation of search capabilities, including relevance improvements and potential algorithm/data structure work, with a focus on vector search features and collaboration across a distributed team.

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 working close to OS/hardware.
  • Work with a globally distributed team focused on vector search capabilities of Elasticsearch.
  • Be an expert on Elasticsearch search relevance and drive improvements based on questions and instincts.
  • Collaborate with community members globally on issues and pull requests, triaging or handling them as needed.
  • Write idiomatic modern Java (Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java).

Qualifications

  • Professional experience with search or vector databases, and experience with HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms on search platforms at scale.
  • Solid skills in core Java and familiarity with standard data structures, concurrency constructs, and features like lambdas.
  • Ability to work autonomously from design to delivery, including technical direction and collaborating with other engineers.
  • Experience collaborating across teams and open to asynchronous collaboration; open source collaboration is a bonus.
  • Familiarity with multiple data storage technologies (e.g., Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra).
  • Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debugging complex systems, and optimizing code while owning outcomes.
  • Ability to adapt to multiple projects, codebases, or teams based on priorities and communicate asynchronously and transparently.

Skills

Required:Search relevanceJava

Benefits

  • Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits across regions.
  • Health coverage for employee and family in many locations.
  • Flexible locations and schedules for many roles.
  • Generous vacation days.
  • Employer-macros for donations and volunteer time (up to $2000 matching and up to 40 hours/year).
  • Parental leave minimum 16 weeks.
  • Commitment to equal opportunity and inclusive culture.
Last updated Sep 3, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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