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Senior Software Engineer - Vector Search - Elasticsearch

Elastic· Platform - Elasticsearch
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Hybrid (Portugal)€55.8k - €88.3kfull-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, algorithms, and bug fixes 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 potential invention of new algorithms or data structures, and close interaction with operating system and hardware considerations.
  • 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.
  • Collaborate with community members worldwide on issues and pull requests, including triaging and handing off to other experts 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, and experience with HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms and libraries at scale.
  • Solid skills in core Java, familiarity with standard data structures, concurrency constructs, and features like lambdas.
  • Ability to work autonomously from design to delivery, including technical design and cross-team collaboration.
  • Comfort with collaborative development and asynchronous, global collaboration.
  • Experience with multiple data storage technologies (e.g., Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra) and understanding of their architectures.
  • Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debugging complex systems, and optimizing code while owning outcomes.
  • Ability to collaborate across functions and switch between projects, codebases, or teams as priorities change.
  • Autonomy in driving decisions and results in a distributed team through asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Skills

Required:JavaVector similarity / vector databasesSearch relevanceDistributed collaboration

Benefits

  • Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary
  • Health coverage for you and your family in many locations
  • Flexible calendars and locations for many roles
  • Generous vacation days
  • Company donation matching up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent)
  • Up to 40 hours per year for volunteer projects
  • Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
Last updated Oct 1, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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