Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI.
We're looking for a Principal Software Developer to join the Elasticsearch - Analytical Engine team. This expert team of engineers is responsible for building new analytics capabilities in Elasticsearch’s completely new compute engine, and accessed via our new piped query language called ES|QL. This is a principle software engineering role that entails using your vast knowledge in this space in order to define, direct, and build the next generation of ES|QL capabilities. This role includes providing technical vision and direction for the customer/user interfaces and for the underlying language syntax and compute infrastructure. This role requires related past technical experience in addition to the ability to work cross-organization.
Our company is distributed by intention. We hire the best engineers we can find wherever they are, whoever they are. We collaborate across continents every day over email, GitHub, Zoom, and Slack. At our best, we write fast, scalable, and intuitive software. We believe that the best way to do that is to empower individual engineers, code review every change, decide big things by consensus, and strive for incremental improvements.
What You Will Be Doing:As a full-time Elasticsearch contributor, you will define, lead, and contribute to the development of data-intensive enhancements. You’ll research the latest features, data structures, and algorithms in the industry to ensure we’re building the right capabilities for our users. You’ll work directly with our partners and product teams to understand their needs and build out a strategic vision for the longer term. You’ll bring your past experience in analytics systems to help build and drive an innovative roadmap for ES|QL and the compute engine. As an authority in several areas of Elasticsearch, everyone will turn to you when they have a question about that area. You'll improve those areas based on your questions and your instincts.
Our globally distributed team of expert engineers is focused on the search and query (ES|QL) analytics capabilities of Elasticsearch. This inclusive team collaborates closely with other user experience teams, crafting a friendly user interface, and with teams closer to the customer, building solutions on top of these APIs (Search, Security, Observability)
Finally, we write idiomatic modern Java -- Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java!
What You Bring:- Experience leading technical projects in the data and enterprise architecture areas. You bring proven knowledge in building and running sophisticated technical infrastructures and engineering sound software systems.
- Experience mentoring expert engineers, providing technical and professional guidance.
- Experience defining a long-term technical vision for an area of a data-intensive application, working across teams and organizations to collaboratively build the technical roadmap.
- Hands-on experience with search and analytics APIs, some examples may include Splunk SPL, Elasticsearch, Datadog, Dynatrace, and New Relic.
- Strong skills in core Java and are conversant in the standard library of data structures and concurrency constructs, as well as newer features like lambdas. You have a strong desire to optimize and make use of the most efficient data structures and algorithms.
- Working with a high level of autonomy, able to tackle projects and guide them from beginning to end. This covers both technical design and working with other engineers to develop needed components.
- Experience with data storage technologies like Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra, and an understanding of how they work and why they work that way.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Collaborating on the internet is hard. We try to be supportive, empathetic, and trusting in all of our interactions. And we expect that from everyone too.
- You have a proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code, while still owning the final outcomes.
- You possess the ability to collaborate across functions and teams and seamlessly transition between different projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities
- You work autonomously and can drive decisions and results in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.
- You've built things with Elasticsearch before, and you have experience in the search and information retrieval space and understand the constructs and theory behind it.
- Experience working with open source projects and familiar with different styles of source control workflow and continuous integration.
Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary. This role does not have a variable compensation component. The typical starting salary range for new hires in this role is listed below.
These ranges represent the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the ranges may be modified in the future.
An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.
Elastic believes that employees should have the opportunity to share in the value that we create together for our shareholders. Therefore, in addition to cash compensation, this role is currently eligible to participate in Elastic's stock program. Our total rewards package also includes a company-matched Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings, along with a range of other benefits offered with a holistic emphasis on employee well-being.
As a distributed company, diversity drives our identity. Whether you’re looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do.
We strive to have parity of benefits across regions and while regulations differ from place to place, we believe taking care of our people is the right thing to do.
- Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary
- Health coverage for you and your family in many locations
- Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles
- Generous number of vacation days each year
- Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service
- Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love
- Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation.
We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals. To request an accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email [email protected]. We will reply to your request within 24 business hours of submission.
Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster; Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision Poster; Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster and Know Your Rights (Poster)
Elasticsearch develops and distributes technology and information that is subject to U.S. and other countries’ export controls and licensing requirements for individuals who are located in or are nationals of the following sanctioned countries and regions: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or Russia, including the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia (The Crimea region of Ukraine, The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), The Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Kherson or Zaporizhzhia). If you are located in or are a national of one of the listed countries or regions, an export license may be required as a condition of your employment in this role. Please note that national origin and/or nationality do not affect eligibility for employment with Elastic.
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Skills Required
- Experience leading technical projects in data and enterprise architecture
- Proven knowledge of sophisticated technical infrastructure and sound software systems
- Experience mentoring expert engineers and providing technical and professional guidance
- Experience defining long-term technical vision and technical roadmaps for data-intensive applications across teams
- Hands-on experience with search and analytics APIs
- Strong core Java skills, including data structures, concurrency constructs, lambdas, algorithms, and optimization
- Ability to work autonomously and lead projects from technical design through completion
- Experience with data storage technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Proven track record using AI to accelerate development, debug systems, and optimize code
- Ability to collaborate across functions and teams and transition between projects, codebases, or teams
- Ability to drive decisions and results through asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication
- Experience building with Elasticsearch and knowledge of search and information retrieval theory
- Experience with open source projects and source control workflows
- Familiarity with continuous integration
Elastic Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Elastic and has not been reviewed or approved by Elastic.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive across many technical and go‑to‑market roles and compares well within its peer group. Strong equity components and benefits bolster perceived total compensation.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as fully paid for employees and families in many locations, which is unusually generous among tech firms. Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage is emphasized in official materials.
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Parental & Family Support — A minimum of 16 weeks of paid parental leave is offered globally, with additional family‑formation support. These policies are positioned as core elements of the package.
Elastic Insights
What We Do
Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI.
Why Work With Us
Free and open isn’t just how we build our products, it’s how we build our culture. We value creativity and mobility, so you can grow how (and where) you want to… and be happier at work.
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