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# Principal Software Engineer - Search Infra

- **Company:** Elastic
- **Location:** Atlanta, GA, United States
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Java (Programming Language), Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Apache Lucene, Cyber Security, Continuous Integration, Data Security, Data Structures, Distributed Data Store, Distributed Systems, Elasticsearch, Information Retrieval, Software Engineering, Apache Solr, Unstructured Data, Indexer, Free and Open-Source Software, Software Version Control
- **Published:** October 29, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/principal-software-engineer-search-infra-atlanta-ga--da854de3-7bd8-4396-b284-6f52bbe701d5

## About the Role

Software Engineering, Elasticsearch, Unstructured Data, Fortune 500 Customers, Order Delivery, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Information/Data Security (InfoSec), Structured Data, Software Engineering, * Experience leading technical projects in the search infrastructure and distributed systems space. You bring proven knowledge in building and operating sophisticated search platforms and engineering robust, high-performance software systems.

 * Experience mentoring expert engineers, providing both technical and professional guidance.

 * Experience defining a long-term technical vision for a core search or retrieval system, working across teams and organizations to collaboratively shape the technical roadmap.

 * Hands-on experience with search and indexing technologies such as Elasticsearch, Lucene, or Solr.

 * Strong skills in core Java and familiarity with advanced data structures and concurrency constructs, as well as newer language features like lambdas. You have a strong desire to optimize and leverage the most efficient algorithms and search data structures.

 * Able to work with a high level of autonomy, tackling projects and guiding them from concept to completion, including both technical design and collaboration with other engineers to develop the necessary components.

 * Experience with large-scale data or search systems such as Elasticsearch, Lucene, Solr, or distributed storage engines, and an understanding of how they work and why they work that way.

 * Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Collaborating across distributed teams is challenging, we value being supportive, empathetic, and trusting in all interactions, and we expect the same from everyone on the team

BONUS POINTS

 * Youve built things with Elasticsearch before, and you have experience in the search and information retrieval space and understand the constructs and theory behind it.

 * Experience working with open source projects and familiar with different styles of source control workflow and continuous integration

## Description

As a full-time Elasticsearch contributor, you will define, lead, and contribute to the evolution of core search and indexing capabilities. You'll research advances in search infrastructure, data structures, and retrieval algorithms to ensure we're building the most efficient and powerful foundations for our users. You'll work closely with our partners and product teams to understand their needs and help shape the long-term technical vision for search at Elastic. You'll bring your past experience with large-scale search systems to drive an innovative roadmap for Elasticsearch's indexing, query execution, and relevance layers. As an authority in several areas of Elasticsearch, you'll be the go-to expert for those domains, continuously improving them through your insights and instincts