Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python)

Elsevier Limited Company; Oxford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Pension Plan

Generous vacation entitlement

Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Fam

Personal Choice budget

Employee Assistance Program (global)

Job summary

Elsevier is seeking a Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python) to help build the Document Intelligence capabilities powering the Submission and Editorial platform. You will design and deploy cloud-hosted services that transform unstructured manuscripts into structured data, enabling AI-driven features across the Submission portfolio.

You will work at the intersection of software engineering, data engineering, and AI, leveraging AWS, microservices, and modern tooling to deliver scalable,

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python/Java with Spring/Spring Boot and SQL.
• Experience with distributed and event-driven systems (Kafka, AWS).
• Familiarity with CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions/Jenkins).
• Ability to collaborate with stakeholders in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience mentoring and supporting team members.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy cloud-hosted distributed applications.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather requirements and feedback.
• Contribute to architecture decisions for performance and stability.
• Enhance delivery processes and implement improvements.
• Own services throughout their lifecycle (architecture, deployment, observability).

Skills

Python

Java

Spring Boot

SQL

Kafka

AWS

Tools

Git

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Job description

Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python)

Would you like to help create products to support the sharing of scientific knowledge?

Do you enjoy collaborating to solve complex technical problems?

About the team

The Submission and Editorial platform is at the heart of Elsevier's publishing ecosystem, supporting millions of interactions between researchers, editors, reviewers, and publishers every year. Our team provides the Document Intelligence capabilities that underpin the Submission product portfolio. Using a combination of data science models and LLMs, we transform complex, unstructured documents into structured, trusted, and reusable data, enabling our products and teams to understand submitted content and use that intelligence to create smarter experiences throughout the Submission and Editorial journey.

About the role

As a Senior Software Engineer on our team, you'll help build the Document Intelligence capabilities that enable Elsevier's Submission products to understand scientific content on a scale. You'll work on services that transform complex, unstructured manuscripts into structured, meaningful information and knowledge through document transformation, metadata extraction, content enrichment, and entity recognition. You'll help turn this intelligence into capabilities that power smarter submission and editorial experiences, from automating traditionally manual processes to enabling content discovery and new AI-driven features across the Submission portfolio. We combine AWS, event-driven architectures, microservices, data science, and AI/LLM capabilities to build reliable, secure, and highly scalable Document Intelligence services. You'll work at the intersection of software engineering, data engineering, and AI, solving challenging problems around understanding and processing millions of research documents within Elsevier's publishing ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

Designing, developing, and deploying applications in a cloud-hosted distributed system to build our next-generation product Collaborating with business stakeholders to identify requirements and gather feedback in a fast-moving environment. Providing input into architectural decisions to ensure stability and performance Identifying and implementing enhancements to continually improve our delivery process Partnering with cross-functional Agile and DevOps implementation teams Taking ownership of services throughout their lifecycle, including architecture, implementation, deployment, observability, operational support, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Demonstrate some proficiency in most of these technologies: Python, Java, Spring / Spring Boot, SQL, with a willingness to learn the others.
• Demonstrate proficiency in distributed and event-driven solutions using Kafka and AWS cloud services.
• Display experience with build tools, Git, and continuous integration (GitHub Actions / Jenkins)
• Enjoy collaborating with team members to create innovative solutions.
• Have experience of supporting and mentoring team members to share knowledge and upskill team members.
• Show experience with alerting, monitoring, and logging tools (New Relic, OpenSearch / Kibana, Coralogix)
• Have experience with a modern IDE (IntelliJ / VSCode) and proficiency in using the refactoring tools.
• Be open to discussing and honing approaches for our team to improve our working practices.
• Have some experience of test-driven development and mocking libraries (Jest, Mockito)
• Be familiar with collaborative documentation tools (Jira and Confluence)
• Be familiar with data-processing workflows and scalable backend architectures.
• Have some real-world experience with Agile practices and execution (Scrum, Kanban)
• Have some familiarity with how to design and develop for cloud environments (i.e., Docker, Kubernetes, AWS)
• Familiar with AI coding tools (Copilot, Claude, Codex, antigravity)
• Some experience with agentic software development is desired.
• Wanting to learn or have experience with AI-based solutions.
• Be eager to learn and grow your skills and experience.
• Be aware of industry best practices and standards.

Why Join Us?

Join our team and contribute to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.

Work in a way that works for you

We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organization. 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 flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are most productive.

Working for you

We know that your well-being and happiness are key to a long and successful career.

Benefits

These are some of the benefits we are delighted to offer:

• Comprehensive Pension Plan
• Generous vacation entitlement and option for sabbatical leave
• Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Family Care leave
• Personal Choice budget
• Internal communities and networks
• Various employee discounts
• Recruitment introduction reward
• Employee Assistance Program (global)

About the business

A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education, and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice.

At Elsevier, your work contributes to the world's grand challenges and a more sustainable future. We harness innovative technologies to support science and healthcare to partner for a better world.

We know your well-being and happiness are key to a long and successful career. We are delighted to offer country specific benefits.

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