Principal Software Engineer in Warsaw

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.

What is The Role: We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch - Search team. This globally-distributed team of expert engineers focuses on delivering a robust and feature-rich search experience, including contributing to improving the search experience in Lucene. This is a principal software engineering role that focuses on enhancing the vector similarity search functionality within Elasticsearch, covering the design and implementation of new vector search features, enhancements to existing vector search functionality, and resolving bugs.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Lead initiatives within Elasticsearch to produce an industry-leading vector database offering, supplying unparalleled speed and relevance in search.
• Contribute to Elasticsearch full time, building new search features and fixing intriguing bugs, all while making the code easier to understand.
• Work with a globally distributed team of experienced engineers focused on the vector search capabilities of Elasticsearch.
• Be an expert on how Elasticsearch implements vector similarity in support of search relevance.
• Work with community members from all over the world on issues and pull requests.
• Write idiomatic modern Java -- Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java!

What You Bring:

• Experience with vector similarity and vector databases, using HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms and libraries.
• Strong skills in core Java and familiarity with data structures and concurrency constructs.
• Ability to work autonomously and guide projects from beginning to end.
• Comfortable developing collaboratively and giving/receiving feedback on code.
• Experience with several data storage technologies like Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development and optimize code.
• Ability to collaborate across functions and teams.

Bonus Points:

• Experience building with Elasticsearch.
• Familiarity with open source projects and different styles of source control workflow.
• Experience designing, leading and owning cross-functional initiatives.

Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People: 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.

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.
• Health coverage for you and your family in many locations.
• Flexible locations and schedules for many roles.
• Generous number of vacation days each year.
• Financial donations and service matching up to $2000.
• Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects.
• Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave.

Security & Privacy Responsibilities: Take ownership of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational data and systems by following applicable privacy and security policies, standards, and procedures.

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.

We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals.

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 this role is: 369 400 zł—584 300 zł PLN.