Senior Java engineer on Elastic's Elasticsearch team, building and maintaining the Inference API — the integration layer connecting Elasticsearch to ML providers like OpenAI and Anthropic — covering REST APIs, streaming (SSE), async execution, billing integration, and plugin architecture, with on-call rotation and open-source code review.
Compensation
€55.8K–€88.3K / yr
Location
Portugal
Work setup
Not specified
Seniority
Senior
Employment
Not specified
Experience
5+ years
Category
Software engineering
Posted
Skills
accessibility
ai
anthropic
api
cloud
cohere
elasticsearch
generative-ai
gradle
java
kibana
machine-learning
maven
observability
openai
rest
semantic-search
yaml
Must have
5+ years of production Java experience, including contributing to a large, established Java codebase
Strong knowledge of core Java: standard library data structures, concurrency constructs, and newer language features
Experience crafting ergonomic APIs and reasoning through tradeoffs
Experience with low-level Java such as concurrency, parallelism, and classloaders
Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code while owning final outcomes
Ability to collaborate across functions and teams and transition between projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities
Ability to work autonomously in a distributed team using asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication
Contributions to and ownership of open source projects
Knowledge of Java build tools (Gradle, Maven), with strong preference for Gradle
Experience working in a platform team or developer productivity team
Full description
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 are on the lookout for a Senior Java Developer to join our Elasticsearch team and drive our work on the Inference API in Elasticsearch.
The Elasticsearch Inference API is the integration layer between Elasticsearch and external machine learning services including Elastic's own Elastic Inference Service (EIS), third-party providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Cohere, Google), and self-hosted models. It powers features like semantic search, reranking, and generative AI across Elastic Cloud and in hosted environments.
You'll maintain and develop the plugin framework and REST API with your work spanning protocol design, streaming, async execution, billing integration, and with a tight collaboration with the wider inference team and the Kibana team.
What You Will Be Doing
Build and maintain integrations with internal systems and external inference providers, including schema negotiation, streaming (SSE), and error normalisation
Contribute to the inference plugin's internal architecture: task settings, chunking strategies, rate limiting, and provider-level configuration
Review open source contributions to the codebase and work with third party engineers to ensure their contributions meet our technology standards
Participate in on-call rotation for inference-related incidents
Write thorough tests: unit tests using ESTestCase, YAML-based REST integration tests, and rolling-upgrade tests
What You Bring
5+ years of production Java experience, with experience contributing to a large, established Java codebase. You know core Java and are conversant in the standard library of data structures and concurrency constructs, as well as newer language features.
Experience crafting ergonomic APIs and the ability to reason through tradeoffs.
Experience with low-level Java such as concurrency, parallelism, classloaders, etc.
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 can work autonomously, drive decisions and results in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.
Bonus Points
Knowledge of JDK internals: modules, the Java memory model, garbage collection, database load, caching techniques, etc.
Experience with ML systems
Contributions to and ownership of open source projects
Knowledge of Java build tools (Gradle, Maven, etc), with a strong preference for Gradle experience.
Experience working in a platform team or developer productivity team
Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary. This role does not have a variable compensation component.
At Elastic, our compensation philosophy aims to provide fair, competitive and transparent remuneration. Salary ranges are established based on a combination of external market benchmarks, internal pay equity considerations, and the responsibilities and complexity associated with each role. This approach helps ensure consistency across comparable roles while remaining competitive within the relevant labour markets.
The final compensation offered within the applicable range will be determined based on several objective factors, including relevant professional experience, level of skills and expertise, alignment with the role requirements, and the overall scope and complexity of the position.
The typical starting salary range for this role is:
€55.800—€88.300 EUR
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. 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.