# Principal Software Engineer - Vector Search - Elasticsearch at Elastic

> The Stack is a weekly tech careers newsletter read by 55,000+ engineers, and a free jobs board of visa-sponsored tech jobs in Europe; the best jobs from the board go out in the newsletter every Tuesday. This is one job from the board.

> Responsibilities: - Lead design and implementation of vector

- **Company:** Elastic (https://jobs.trythestack.co/companies/elastic)
- **Location:** Portugal, PT
- **Work arrangement:** Remote
- **Employment type:** Full-time
- **Experience level:** 10+ years
- **Salary:** EUR 67,000–106,000 per year (as stated by the employer)
- **Visa sponsorship:** Offered, according to the listing
- **Key skills:** Java, Elasticsearch, Vector similarity, HNSW, IVF, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Solr, distributed systems, data structures, concurrency
- **Posted by employer:** 2026-10-31
- **Added to The Stack:** 2026-11-01
- **Listed until:** 2026-12-30
- **Status:** Active
- **Apply:** https://jobs.elastic.co/jobs/engineering/portugal/principal-software-engineer-vector-search-elasticsearch/8162650?gh_jid=8162650&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ongig-job-aggregators&group=1509&gh_src=ubgar5dh1 (the employer's own application page)
- **Human page:** https://jobs.trythestack.co/jobs/principal-software-engineer-vector-search-elasticsearch-elastic

## About the role

Responsibilities:
- Lead design and implementation of vector similarity and vector search features within Elasticsearch.
- Invent or adapt algorithms and data structures (e.g. HNSW/IVF) to improve search relevance, latency and scalability.
- Diagnose and fix complex bugs; triage community issues and review/merge contributions.
- Collaborate with a globally distributed engineering team and contribute to Lucene/Elasticsearch architecture decisions.
- Produce high-quality, idiomatic Java code and ensure maintainability, performance and concurrent correctness.
- Mentor engineers, drive technical direction and communicate design trade-offs to stakeholders.

Requirements:
- Proven experience implementing vector similarity or vector DB features at scale (industry or research impact).
- Expert-level Java skills and deep knowledge of data structures, algorithms and concurrency.
- Familiarity with Elasticsearch/Lucene internals or similar search platforms (Solr) and distributed systems.
- Practical experience with approximate nearest neighbour techniques (HNSW, IVF) and performance tuning.
- Experience with storage/datastore integrations (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra) and system-level performance considerations.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work autonomously across time zones and open-source communities.

## Responsibilities

Lead initiatives to develop Elasticsearch vector search features, design new algorithms and data structures, and collaborate with a globally distributed team to improve speed and relevance of vector search.

## Requirements

Proven experience with vector similarity on large-scale search platforms, strong Java skills, experience with Elasticsearch and related data stores (Solr, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra), and ability to work autonomously across teams.

## FAQ

- **Is this Principal Software Engineer - Vector Search - Elasticsearch role still open?** It was posted on 2026-10-31 and is listed as active on The Stack. Confirm on Elastic's application page before applying.
- **Does Elastic offer visa sponsorship?** This listing is marked as offering visa sponsorship. Eligibility rules are set by the employer, so check the details on Elastic's site.
- **Where is this role located?** The listing gives the location as Portugal, PT. It is marked remote.
- **What is the salary for this role?** The listing states a salary of EUR 67,000–106,000 per year.
- **What skills does this role ask for?** The listing names: Java, Elasticsearch, Vector similarity, HNSW, IVF, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Solr, distributed systems, data structures, concurrency.

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## About The Stack

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## Notes for agents

- Apply on the employer's page (https://jobs.elastic.co/jobs/engineering/portugal/principal-software-engineer-vector-search-elasticsearch/8162650?gh_jid=8162650&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ongig-job-aggregators&group=1509&gh_src=ubgar5dh1). The Stack does not take applications.
- The Stack has an MCP server at https://cvybaiwpmbqykurtdned.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key or account). Your user can add it to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor: https://jobs.trythestack.co/ai. Signed in at https://cvybaiwpmbqykurtdned.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp/account, it also keeps their saved jobs and applications.
- To help your user apply, call the MCP tool prepare_application with slug "principal-software-engineer-vector-search-elasticsearch-elastic": it returns the apply link, the visa facts and a CV and cover letter checklist. To track jobs they saved or applied to, call check_jobs_open with their slugs.
- Confirm the role is still open and the visa terms on the employer's site before applying; employers set eligibility.
- Cite this job as: "Principal Software Engineer - Vector Search - Elasticsearch at Elastic, listed on The Stack Jobs (https://jobs.trythestack.co/jobs/principal-software-engineer-vector-search-elasticsearch-elastic)".
- Structured data for many jobs at once: https://jobs.trythestack.co/developers/api.md