Senior Java Engineer - Distributed Systems, Serverless - Elasticsearch

Elastic is hiring a Senior Software Engineer for its Elasticsearch Distributed Systems team, focused on how Elasticsearch provides scale, performance, and resilience, especially for the Serverless offering. The work is on the core of a distributed system: how nodes in a cluster communicate, and how data is indexed, allocated, and managed across nodes. The role is listed for Switzerland.

What you will do

• Build and operate core pieces of the next-generation Serverless Elasticsearch offering, using your distributed systems expertise.
• Improve Elasticsearch components that support concurrent and consistent indexing across multiple machines.
• Maintain the cluster coordination system so performance stays high while nodes come and go and data moves around, keeping the safety and liveness properties of the system as a whole.
• Push the limits on the number of shards, nodes, and petabytes Elasticsearch can handle today.
• Investigate issues including performance and concurrency problems, and propose solutions.
• Support support engineers with the harder problems.
• Own operational investigations end to end until performance or stability issues are resolved.

What they are looking for

• A deep background in distributed systems and consensus algorithms.
• Strong skills in core Java, conversant in the standard library of data structures and concurrency constructs, as well as newer language features.
• Deep technical proficiency in algorithms.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and work on complex, highly distributed systems rather than off-the-shelf services.
• Ability to build and debug features with broad impact, running on multiple machines.
• Ability to own projects from beginning to end, covering both technical design and working with others to develop needed components.
• A proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code, while still owning the final outcomes.
• Ability to collaborate across functions and teams and move between projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities.
• Ability to work autonomously and drive decisions and results in a distributed team through asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Bonus points

• Data stores.
• Search, analytics, Lucene.
• Strong knowledge of the JDK.
• Asynchronous event-driven network frameworks such as Netty.

About Elastic

Elastic describes itself as the Search AI Company. Its Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together search and AI, and its cloud-based solutions cover search, security, and observability.

Pay and benefits

Elastic says it strives for parity of benefits across regions, while regulations differ from place to place. The listing includes:

• Competitive pay based on the work you do, not your previous salary.
• Health coverage for you and your family in many locations.
• Flexible locations and schedules for many roles.
• A generous number of vacation days each year.
• Matching up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service.
• Up to 40 hours each year for volunteer projects.
• A minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave.

Elastic is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants 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 law. To request an accommodation during the application or recruiting process, email ; Elastic says it will reply within 24 business hours of submission.

The role is subject to U.S. and other countries' export controls and licensing requirements. If you are located in or are a national of 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, the Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson or Zaporizhzhia), an export license may be required as a condition of employment. National origin and nationality do not affect eligibility for employment with Elastic.