Principal Software Engineer - Performance Tuning - Elasticsearch

United States Digital Space LLC; Poland; On-site; PLN 369,000 - 584,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Flexible locations

Vacation days

Donation matching

Volunteer hours

Parental leave

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead performance engineering for Elasticsearch. You will guide architectural and code-level optimizations, develop performance models, and drive AI-assisted benchmarking across distributed systems.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate across teams, and shape performance-first features from inception. This role focuses on Java/JVM performance, profiling, and scalable architectures in a distributed data environment.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of Java internals and JVM memory management.

Responsibilities

• Own core performance engineering initiatives from architecture to production, delivering high-impact optimizations.
• Develop foundational performance models for distributed systems.
• Drive optimization strategies for performance, predictability and scalability across environments.
• Profile and analyze system behavior to identify bottlenecks in logging, metrics, vector search, and ES|QL.
• Ensure robust performance benchmarks and regression detection for stateful and serverless architectures.
• Mentor engineers and foster performance-aware development.

Skills

Java internals

JVM memory management

Concurrency models

High-performance coding

Profiling distributed systems

AI-assisted optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

JMH

Rally

Flamegraphs

Job description

What is The Role

Elasticsearch powers search, observability, and AI retrieval (RAG) for the world's largest organizations. We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch Performance team. In this role, you will lead architectural and code-level performance engineering initiatives. Your goal is to drive the continuous optimization and predictability of Elasticsearch performance, partnering with area-specific teams to unlock the full potential of our software.

What You Will Be Doing

• Owning core performance engineering initiatives from architecture to production, focusing on the delivery of high-impact optimizations. Leading the technical design, plan, and execution for major architectural and code-level performance improvements.


• Developing foundational performance models and methodologies for complex, distributed systems.


• Driving optimization strategies to ensure Elasticsearch remains performant, predictable, and scalable in diverse environments.


• Profiling and analyzing system behavior to identify bottlenecks in logging, metrics, vector search, and ES|QL.


• Ensuring robust performance benchmarks and regression detection for both stateful and stateless (Serverless) architectures.


• Collaborating across the company to embed performance-first thinking into new features from the outset.


• Drive automation efforts by designing and building AI-assisted optimization harnesses that streamline profiling, hypothesis testing, and benchmarking.


• Mentoring and coaching other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and performance-aware development.

What You Bring

• You have deep knowledge of Java internals and JVM memory management. You understand how concurrency models work. You can write code that is high-performance, thread-safe, and lock-free. This experience includes working with large open-source and enterprise codebases.


• You have proven experience in profiling and optimizing distributed systems. This includes deep experience with benchmarking tools (e.g.,flamegraphs, JMH, Rally), identifying performance regressions, and implementing algorithmic or hardware-aware optimizations.


• You have a solid comprehension of distributed systems architecture, including partition tolerance, cluster state propagation, and scaling challenges in large-scale data stores.


• You have a proven track record of using AI or advanced tooling to accelerate optimization, debug complex performance issues, and automate benchmarking workflows.


• You possess the ability to collaborate across functions and teams, acting as a force multiplier for performance engineering across the organization.


• 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 result in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Bonus Points

• Experience integrating high-performance native libraries (e.g., C++, Rust, SIMD-accelerated code) into Java applications.


• Deep knowledge of modern storage engine performance, index modes, or vector search optimizations.


• Experience defining and managing Performance SLAs and success criteria for distributed systems.


• Experience working on the internals of a large-scale data store or search engine.


• Experience working on the internals of a data store or search engine.

Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary. This role does not have a variable compensation component.

At the company, 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:

369 400 zł—584 300 zł PLN

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, the company 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. the company 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 [e-mail] 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)