3 months ago
Norway (city not specified)Staff+
Responsibilities
- Lead Elasticsearch initiatives focused on delivering a fast and relevant vector database offering.
- Design and implement new vector search features and improve existing vector similarity functionality.
- Develop modern Java code for Elasticsearch, including algorithms, data structures, and concurrency-oriented components.
- Investigate and resolve complex bugs while improving code clarity and maintainability.
- Guide technical projects from design through implementation and collaborate with engineers across teams.
- Serve as an expert in Elasticsearch vector similarity, search relevance, and related implementation decisions.
- Work with global community members on issues and pull requests, including triage and resolution.
- Collaborate asynchronously with a globally distributed engineering organization.
Requirements
- Demonstrated implementation of novel vector similarity techniques on a large-scale search platform or advancement of academic research in vector similarity information retrieval.
- Professional experience with vector similarity and vector databases, including HNSW, IVF, or comparable algorithms and libraries at scale.
- Strong core Java skills, including Java standard-library data structures, concurrency constructs, and lambdas.
- Ability to work autonomously and own projects from beginning to end across technical design and implementation.
- Experience collaborating on code, APIs, and technical approaches in distributed or open-source environments.
- Experience with data storage technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Proven ability to use AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code while retaining ownership of outcomes.
- Ability to collaborate across functions and teams and move between projects, codebases, or teams as priorities change.
- Experience designing, leading, and owning cross-functional initiatives is a bonus.
- Prior Elasticsearch experience and open-source project experience are bonuses.
Benefits
- Base salary with no variable compensation component.
- Health coverage for employees and their families in many locations.
- Flexible locations and schedules for many roles in the distributed organization.
- Generous annual vacation allowance.
- Donation matching of up to $2,000 or local-currency equivalent.
- Up to 40 hours annually for volunteer projects.
- At least 16 weeks of parental leave.
- Equal-opportunity and inclusive workplace with accessibility support.
Tech Stack
Categories
About Elastic
Elastic builds the Elasticsearch-based platform for enterprise search, observability (logging, metrics, APM), and security (SIEM/endpoint). It sells subscriptions and Elastic Cloud managed services with usage-based pricing, combining open source and proprietary features through Elasticsearch and Kibana. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, Elastic is publicly traded on the NYSE and is used by more than half of the Fortune 500.