Senior Software Engineer I

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer I to join the Search Platform team within Elsevier's Search and AI Platform. This role is well suited to an experienced backend engineer with hands-on search experience who enjoys building reliable, cloud-native systems at scale.

You will work on core search services and APIs that support products such as Scopus and ScienceDirect, helping millions of users worldwide discover research and information. You will own well-defined components, collaborate closely with teammates, and deliver production-ready solutions with support from senior and principal engineers.

About the team

The Search Platform team builds and maintains shared search foundations used across Elsevier products. This includes search services, retrieval capabilities, ranking foundations, and content freshness.

The platform supports both lexical and semantic search and continues to evolve toward AI-augmented and LLM-enabled discovery. We work closely with product, data science, and engineering teams, and we value collaboration, clear communication, and continuous improvement in a global team environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate backend search services in production
• Contribute to scalable, reliable, Kubernetes-hosted systems
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to turn requirements into working solutions
• Participate in code reviews and technical discussions
• Continuously grow your understanding of search technologies and platform architecture

• Several years of professional experience in backend or platform engineering
• Practical experience with search systems (for example Elasticsearch, Solr, OpenSearch, or Lucene-based technologies)
• Strong experience with Java and modern backend frameworks (such as Spring or Spring Boot)
• Experience deploying and operating services in Kubernetes-based environments
• Experience building and running cloud-based systems, ideally using AWS and CI/CD pipelines

Work in a way that works for you:

• We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organisation. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long-term goals.

Working for you:

• We know that your wellbeing and happiness are key to a long and successful career. These are some of the benefits we are delighted to offer:
• Generous holiday allowance with the option to buy additional days
• Health screening, eye care vouchers and private medical benefits
• Wellbeing programs
• Life assurance
• Access to a competitive contributory pension scheme
• Save As You Earn share option scheme
• Travel Season ticket loan
• Electric Vehicle Scheme
• Optional Dental Insurance
• Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to emergency care for both the elderly and children
• RECARES days, giving you time to support the charities and causes that matter to you
• Access to employee resource groups with dedicated time to volunteer
• Access to extensive learning and development resources
• Access to employee discounts scheme via Perks at Work