Principal Software Engineer (Elasticsearch Search Infrastructure)

Location: United Kingdom

Company

hirify.global develops the cloud-based hirify.global Search AI Platform for search, security, and observability across structured and unstructured data.

What you will do

• Define, lead, and contribute to the evolution of hirify.globalsearch's core search and indexing capabilities.
• Set technical vision and direction for indexing, retrieval, relevance, and query execution infrastructure.
• Research search infrastructure, data structures, and retrieval algorithms to improve system efficiency and power.
• Shape long-term technical roadmaps with partners and product teams.
• Act as a subject-matter expert and mentor experienced engineers across distributed teams.
• Collaborate through technical design, code review, and incremental delivery of scalable software.

Requirements

• Experience leading technical projects in search infrastructure and distributed systems.
• Experience building and operating large-scale, high-performance search platforms.
• Hands-on experience with hirify.globalsearch, Lucene, Solr, or comparable search and indexing technologies.
• Strong core Java skills, including advanced data structures, concurrency constructs, and modern language features.
• Experience defining technical vision for core search or retrieval systems and collaborating across organizations.
• Strong communication skills, autonomy, mentoring experience, and knowledge of open-source workflows and continuous integration.

Nice to have

• Previous experience contributing to open-source projects.
• Deep expertise in search and information retrieval theory and practice.

Culture & Benefits

• Distributed-by-intention environment with collaboration across continents.
• Flexible locations and schedules for many roles.
• Health coverage for employees and families in many locations.
• Generous vacation allowance and at least 16 weeks of parental leave.
• Donation matching of up to $2,000 or local equivalent and up to 40 volunteer hours annually.
• Inclusive culture focused on autonomy, supportive collaboration, code review, and consensus-based decisions.