Senior Software Developer - Search Algorithms - Elasticsearch

Elastic
Canada
On-site

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for candidates with deep search algorithm expertise who lead technical initiatives in a globally distributed team.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience in vector search and AI integration in search platforms
    — “Professional experience with search or vector databases, and you used HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms and libraries on search platforms at scale.
  • Individuals who can autonomously drive technical design and cross-functional projects
    — “You work with a high level of autonomy and are able to take on projects and guide them from beginning to end.
  • Candidates who are comfortable with asynchronous communication and distributed team workflows
    — “You work autonomously and can drive decisions and results in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Things to consider

  • The role requires full-time commitment with no variable compensation component
    — “This role does not have a variable compensation component.
  • Geographic flexibility is a must, as the team is globally distributed
    — “Our company is distributed by intention. We hire the best engineers we can find wherever they are, whoever they are.

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience with Java and your contributions to search algorithm development
    — “Write idiomatic modern Java -- Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java!
  • Showcase your ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and deliver end-to-end solutions
    — “You have experience designing, leading, and owning cross-functional initiatives.
  • Demonstrate your background in asynchronous collaboration and open source workflows
    — “Bonus points if you've collaborated over the internet because that's harder.
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Individual

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • deliver robust and feature-rich search experience
  • improve search relevance
  • work with globally distributed team
Typical background
professional experience with search or vector databasessolid skills in core Java

Skills & requirements

Required

Search AlgorithmsJavaConcurrencyData StructuresBug FixingCode ReviewCollaborationAutonomyAlgorithm Design

Preferred

HNSWIVFLucene

Stack & domain

Search AlgorithmsVector DatabasesJavaConcurrencyData StructuresSearch RelevanceBug FixingCode ReviewCollaborationInternet CollaborationLeadershipProblem-solvingTeamworkAdaptabilityCuriosityEmpathyCommunicationSearchAISoftware DevelopmentEngineering

About the role

Original posting from Elastic

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. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI.

What is The Role

We're looking for a Senior Software Developer to join the Elasticsearch - Search Relevance 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 technical leader is responsible for contributing to the technical direction and vision for our search capabilities, including design and implementation of new search features, enhancements to search functionality, and resolving bugs.

Our company is distributed by intention. We hire the best engineers we can find wherever they are, whoever they are. We collaborate across continents every day over email, GitHub, Zoom, and Slack. At our best, we write fast, scalable and intuitive software. We believe that the best way to do that is to empower individual engineers, code review every change, decide big things by consensus, and strive for incremental improvements.

What You Will Be Doing

Lead initiatives within Elasticsearch to produce an industry-leading search engine 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. Sometimes you'll need to invent a new algorithm or data structure. Or find one and implement it. Sometimes you'll need to get close to the operating system and hardware.

Work with a globally distributed team of experienced engineers focused on the vector search capabilities of Elasticsearch.

Be an expert on Elasticsearch search relevance. You'll identify and drive improvements this area based on your questions and your instincts.

Work with community members from all over the world on issues and pull requests, sometimes triaging them and handing them off to other experts and sometimes handling them yourself.

Write idiomatic modern Java -- Elasticsearch is 99.8% Java!

What You Bring 

Professional experience with search or vector databases, and you used HNSW, IVF, or other relevant algorithms and libraries on search platforms at scale.

You have solid skills in core Java and are conversant in the standard library of data structures and concurrency constructs, as well as other features like lambdas.

You work with a high level of autonomy and are able to take on projects and guide them from beginning to end. This covers both technical design and working with other engineers to develop needed components.

You're comfortable developing collaboratively. Giving and receiving feedback on code and approaches and APIs is hard! Bonus points if you've collaborated over the internet because that's harder. Double bonus points for asynchronous collaboration over the internet. That's even harder, but we do it anyway because it's the best way we know how to build software.

You've used several data storage technologies like Elasticsearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Cassandra and have some idea how they work and why they work that way.

You have a proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code, while still owning the final outcomes.

You possess the ability to collaborate across functions and teams and seamlessly transition between different projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities

You work autonomously and can drive decisions and results in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Bonus Points

You've built things with Elasticsearch before.

You've worked with open source projects and are familiar with different styles of source control workflow and continuous integration.

Experience with data storage technology.

You have experience designing, leading, and owning cross-functional initiatives.

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 new hires in this role is listed below. 

These ranges represent the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting.  We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the ranges may be modified in the future.  

An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

Elastic believes that employees should have the opportunity to share in the value that we create together for our shareholders. Therefore, in addition to cash compensation, this role is currently eligible to participate in Elastic's stock program.  Our total rewards package also includes a company-matched Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings, along with a range of other benefits offered with a holistic emphasis on employee well-being.

The typical starting salary range for this role is:$128,300—$203,000 CADAdditional 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. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do.

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 and not your previous salary

Health coverage for you and your family in many locations

Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles

Generous number of vacation days each year

Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service

Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love

Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave

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. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment 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 federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation.

We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals. To request an accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email candidate_accessibility@elastic.co. We will reply to your request within 24 business hours of submission.

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster; Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision Poster; Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster and Know Your Rights (Poster)

Elasticsearch develops and distributes technology and information that is subject to U.S. and other countries’ export controls and licensing requirements for individuals who are located in or are nationals of the following sanctioned countries and regions: 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 (DNR), The Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Kherson or Zaporizhzhia). If you are located in or are a national of one of the listed countries or regions, an export license may be required as a condition of your employment in this role. Please note that national origin and/or nationality do not affect eligibility for employment with Elastic.

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Source: Elastic careers

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