Distinguished Software Developer

Who you are

• The team is looking for someone with success using and building search technology that powers critical applications
• Proven experience as technical leader for large, complex engineering teams and projects
• Deep expertise in Java/JVM, search technologies, context engineering, experience building complex distributed systems, or understanding of the inner workings of databases/data stores
• Passion about Search
• Ability to reason about architecture at both high and detailed levels
• Hands-on experience: comfortable coding, reviewing PRs, and staying close to the team’s work
• Excellent communicator, collaborator, and problem solver
• Operates with high autonomy
• Extensive technical leadership in search
• Experience with the Elastic Stack
• Built search products at scale
• Open-source project leadership or major contributions

What the job involves

• As a recognized leader in the search space, Elastic’s Search team connects our core technologies, from Elasticsearch, to our GPU-based inference service, to real-world business needs, enabling our customers to build market leading applications and address critical business needs
• We build everything from foundational infrastructure that extends Elasticsearch, to user-facing features like Agent Builder that enable customers to create powerful search and Agentic experiences
• You’ll be the technical leader shaping the architecture and vision for Elastic’s Search products, ensuring that using Elasticsearch for building applications, Agents, or as a context engineering Platform is easy to get started with and operate, while preserving the flexibility to configure every aspect of search & relevance
• We are looking for a technology and engineering leader (Distinguished Engineer level) to help us realize our goals
• You'll own and evolve the architecture and roadmap for Search, Context Engineering, and Agent Building
• Define and enhance the end-to-end developer and user experience across use-cases
• Collaborate with the team owning Elasticsearch and other engineering teams across Elastic to align priorities and make smart technology and design choices
• Lead technical discussions with partners and customers to ensure our solutions meet real needs
• Review and advise implementation designs
• Evangelize the Search roadmap internally and externally
• Mentor engineers and foster technical excellence

Benefits

• Toast to your health: Fully paid health coverage for you and your family, in many locations.
• Craft your calendar: Flexible location and schedule for most roles.
• Create space for you: Distributed by design workforce, plus generous number of vacation days each year.
• Embrace parenthood: Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave, plus generous family formation benefits.
• Give back your time: 40 hours each year to use toward volunteering with organizations and causes you’re passionate about.
• Amplify your impact: Double your charitable giving — we match donations up to $1500 USD (or local currency equivalent).