Principal Software Engineer, Search Infra, Elasticsearch

Elastic

Confirmed live today Low trust

Remote

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Work type: Remote
Location: Remote
Posted: 3 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today

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How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $216k

$136k most similar roles pay here $290k

This listing doesn't post a salary. Most similar roles pay $191,000–$241,600.

Based on 240 similar postings.

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About Elastic

Elastic is the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash). It sells search, observability, and security products built on that search engine, primarily through its Elastic Cloud managed service.

Elastic currently has 272 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $133,100–$210,600 across 93 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer, Search Infra, Elasticsearch

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Principal Software Engineer - Search Infra - Elasticsearch joins the Search Infra team to provide technical vision and direction for core search infrastructure, including indexing, retrieval, and relevance. This role involves researching advances in data structures and retrieval algorithms while defining the long-term roadmap for Elasticsearch capabilities. The successful candidate will collaborate with product teams to shape the evolution of query execution and relevance layers. Key requirements include expertise in distributed systems, large-scale search platforms, and high-performance software engineering. Technical skills required include core Java, advanced data structures, concurrency constructs, and experience with technologies like Lucene, Solr, or Elasticsearch. The role focuses on solving complex problems in the information retrieval space by building robust foundations for search functionality while mentoring other engineers and ensuring the technical integrity of the underlying search infrastructure.

What does a Software Engineer earn in Remote?

Median $202482 from 350 postings across 56 companies.

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Skills

Elasticsearch Lucene Java Solr Distributed Systems Data Structures Algorithms Open Source GitHub Search Infrastructure Information Retrieval Concurrency Source Control

What you'll do

Define, lead, and contribute to the evolution of core search and indexing capabilities.
Research advances in search infrastructure, data structures, and retrieval algorithms.
Provide technical vision and direction for Elasticsearch’s core search infrastructure.
Develop an innovative roadmap for indexing, query execution, and relevance layers.
Act as a subject matter expert for specific domains within the search infrastructure.
Mentor other engineers by providing both technical and professional guidance.
Manage projects from initial concept through to final completion including technical design.
Ensure all code contributions comply with secure software development frameworks and data protection policies.

What we're looking for

Experience leading technical projects in search infrastructure and distributed systems.
Experience mentoring expert engineers with technical and professional guidance.
Experience defining long-term technical vision for core search or retrieval systems across teams.
Hands-on experience with search and indexing technologies such as Elasticsearch, Lucene, or Solr.
Proficiency in core Java, advanced data structures, concurrency constructs, and modern language features like lambdas.
Ability to work autonomously from concept to completion including technical design and collaboration.
Experience with large-scale data systems or distributed storage engines.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills for collaborating across distributed teams.
Experience building with Elasticsearch and understanding search theory (preferred).
Experience with open source projects and familiar with various source control workflows and CI (preferred).

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