Senior Software Engineer - Performance Tuning - Elasticsearch

Role Description

Elasticsearch powers search, observability, and AI retrieval (RAG) for the world's largest organizations. We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch Performance team. In this role, you will contribute to performance engineering initiatives through high-quality code and technical analysis. Your goal is to help improve the optimization and predictability of Elasticsearch performance, collaborating with area-specific teams to enhance our software.

What You Will Be Doing

• Contributing to core performance engineering initiatives from development to production, focusing on the delivery of impactful optimizations.
• Executing technical designs and plans for architectural and code-level performance improvements.
• Implementing foundational performance models and methodologies for complex, distributed systems.
• Supporting optimization strategies to ensure Elasticsearch remains performant, predictable, and scalable in diverse environments.
• Profiling and analyzing system behavior to identify bottlenecks in logging, metrics, vector search, and ES|QL.
• Ensuring robust performance benchmarks and regression detection for both stateful and stateless (Serverless) architectures.
• Collaborating with peers across the team to apply performance-focused development practices into new features.
• Contributing to automation efforts by building AI-assisted optimization harnesses that streamline profiling, hypothesis testing, and benchmarking.
• Providing technical guidance and peer reviews to other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of Java internals and JVM memory management.
• Understanding of concurrency models.
• Ability to write high-performance, thread-safe, and lock-free code.
• Proven experience in profiling and optimizing distributed systems.
• Solid comprehension of distributed systems architecture, including partition tolerance, cluster state propagation, and scaling challenges in large-scale data stores.
• Proven track record of using AI or advanced tooling to accelerate optimization, debug complex performance issues, and automate benchmarking workflows.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within a team environment.
• Ability to collaborate across functions and teams, transitioning between different projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities.
• Ability to work autonomously, drive decisions, and result in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Bonus Points

• Experience integrating high-performance native libraries (e.g., C++, Rust, SIMD-accelerated code) into Java applications.
• Deep knowledge of modern storage engine performance, index modes, or vector search optimizations.
• Experience defining and managing Performance SLAs and success criteria for distributed systems.
• Experience working on the internals of a large-scale data store or search engine.

Compensation

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:

• $133,100 — $210,600 USD
• $159,900 — $252,900 USD (in select locations)

Benefits

• 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.
• 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.
• Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave.

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.

• 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.