Senior Software Engineer – Storage Engine (Elasticsearch)

About the role

Elastic is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch Storage Engine team. The globally distributed, fully remote team builds core storage and query technologies for observability workloads, focusing on storage efficiency, query processing, and data layout optimization. You will design, implement, and optimise Elasticsearch's core storage and query engine.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the architectural evolution of core storage engine components and resolve performance bottlenecks.
• Drive cross‑organizational initiatives to deliver industry‑leading observability solutions.
• Collaborate with a globally distributed team on logs and metrics capabilities.
• Introduce clean‑code standards, simplify complex system behaviours, and improve architectural clarity.
• Act as a subject‑matter expert and mentor across the engineering organisation.
• Engage with the global community to triage, resolve, and review issues and pull requests.
• Write idiomatic modern Java, which powers 99.8% of Elasticsearch.

Required profile

• Proven ability to collaborate across functions and switch between projects based on priorities.
• Autonomous work style with strong asynchronous communication skills.
• Experience using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimise code.
• Prompt‑engineering mindset for effective use of AI agents.
• Track record of implementing efficient indexing, storage, and query techniques for time‑series or log data.
• Familiarity with data‑storage technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Prometheus.
• Strong core Java expertise, including concurrency primitives and algorithmic optimisation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, with a collaborative attitude.

Required skills

• Java
• Elasticsearch
• Solr
• PostgreSQL
• MongoDB
• Prometheus
• Concurrency programming
• Data structures
• Algorithms

What we offer

• Competitive base salary (€55,800 – €88,300 per year) with transparent compensation philosophy.
• Health coverage for you and your family in many locations.
• Flexible location and schedule options for remote work.
• Generous vacation allowance.
• Company‑matched charitable donations up to $2,000 (or local equivalent).
• Up to 40 paid volunteer hours per year.
• Minimum 16 weeks of parental leave.