Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python)

RELX Group; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Pension Plan

Generous vacation entitlements

Parental leave

Study assistance

Sabbatical leave

Employee discounts

EAP (global)

Job summary

Elsevier is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build Document Intelligence services that transform manuscripts into structured data. You will work across cloud-native microservices, AI/LLM features, and data pipelines to power smarter submission and editorial experiences.

Join a cross-functional team using AWS, Kafka, Python/Java, and modern IDEs with a focus on reliability, performance, and scalable architectures while embracing Agile practices and continuous learning.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python, Java, Spring Boot, and SQL with willingness to learn others.
• Experience with distributed/event-driven systems using Kafka and AWS.
• Experience with CI tools, Git, and modern IDEs (IntelliJ/VSCode).

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy cloud-hosted distributed applications for next-generation product.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather requirements in a fast-moving environment.
• Contribute to architectural decisions for stability and performance.
• Identify and implement enhancements to improve delivery processes.
• Partner with Agile and DevOps teams; own services lifecycle.
• Demonstrate willingness to learn and apply new approaches as needed.

Skills

Python

Java

Spring Boot

SQL

Kafka

AWS

Git

CI/CD

New Relic

OpenSearch

Kibana

Coralogix

Docker

Kubernetes

Jira

Confluence

IntelliJ

VSCode

Jest

Mockito

Agile

Tools

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Job description

About the role:

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. 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.

• 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.
• To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate proficiency in some of our requirements, with a willingness to learn new ones as needed.

• 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.

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.

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)