Principal Software Engineer, Elastic
Application Networking, Platform Infrastructure
€76-98.4k
Open source platform powering search, observability, security, and more
Be an early applicant
Open source platform powering search, observability, security, and more
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
€76-98.4k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help turn endless data possibilities into real results with the power of Search AI.
Role
Who you are
- This is a Principal-level role for an engineer who has designed high-performance, scalable networking platforms and can drive technical initiatives across organizations
- Experience with building software, including setting technical direction for complex distributed systems running production at scale (Staff or Principal level, or equivalent scope)
- Deep expertise in application networking and cloud-native architecture. You should understand how services communicate at scale. Knowledge of how to design, operate, and evolve Ingress, private connectivity, DNS, and security controls is required
- You have experience building large-scale distributed systems, rather than making use of off-the-shelf services
- You are able to own projects from beginning to end. This covers both technical design and working with others to develop needed components. You have experience guiding work involving multiple engineers
- You have operated high-availability SaaS platforms, responded to incidents, and improved reliability over time. You care about the quality of work shipped — testing, observability, and operability
- 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. You communicate clearly and can influence direction across teams and levels without formal authority
Desirable
- Hands-on experience with Kubernetes networking (Cilium, external-dns, Envoy Gateway, and Crossplane) and with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and its networking ecosystem
- You have contributed to CNCF or other open-source networking projects
What the job involves
- We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join Platform Infrastructure - Application Networking and set where Elastic Cloud application networking goes next. This work covers Ingress, security controls, private connectivity, and DNS management — the path every interaction with Elasticsearch, Kibana, and the broader Elastic stack takes. You will drive the technical vision, architecture, and design of these systems, not just execute against an existing roadmap
- Elastic is investing in the reliability, security, and reach of Elastic Cloud; you will hold a high bar for those qualities while other engineering teams rely on what this platform provides
- Set the technical direction for major application networking initiatives, owning designs from proposal through general availability
- Lead the development of Ingress, private connectivity, DNS, and security controls on a large scale for Elastic Cloud. Continuously identify and address issues related to performance, reliability, and operability
- Lead multi-quarter, cross-organizational projects that other Elastic engineering teams rely on, and guide these projects through to delivery
- Raise the operational quality of our services. Take charge of operational investigations from beginning to end. Lead complex incident investigations and reviews. Participate in on-call rotation
- Mentor and support engineers across the team, serve as a subject matter expert and trusted technical advisor to the wider engineering organization, and set the standard for how we build software
- Partner with and advise product management and senior engineering stakeholders on technical trade-offs, feasibility, and roadmap direction
- Identify and champion improvements to security, stability, and cost efficiency before they become problems. Untangle complexity and bring architectural clarity across the platform
Our take
Organizations are dealing with exploding data volumes increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, and the growing expectation tha ttechnology should help act on problems, not just report them. Ai is moving from experimentation into real operations, especially in security and observability where speed and context are critical. So now, both enterprises and governments are looking for simpler, shared platforms that sale easily and reduce complexity rather than add to it.
And Elastic sits at the intersection of these needs with its Search AI Platform that helps organizations turn large amounts of structured and unstructured data into clear insights and actiontions across search, security, and observability. Elastic's strength lies in its open, flexible approach, which breaks down data silos and provides a context people and AI systems need to make daster, better decisions. The goal is straightforward: help teams see what's happening, understand it quickly, and respond confidently.
Recently, the company worked with CISA to deliver a unified, cloud-based SIEM for US federal agencies, this highlights strong trust in Elastic's security and scalability. Alongside this, its AWS Agentic AI Specialization also reflects leadership in making autonomous AI system practical and reliable. Together, these milestones position Elastic well for the future, as organizations increasingly rely on shared platforms and intelligent systems to manage ris, complexity, and growth.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
8% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Jul 2016
$58m
SERIES D
Jun 2014
$70m
SERIES C
Total funding: $162m
Company benefits
- Toast to your health: Fully paid health coverage for you and your family, in many locations.
- Craft your calendar: Flexible location and schedule for most roles.
- Create space for you: Distributed by design workforce, plus generous number of vacation days each year.
- Embrace parenthood: Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave, plus generous family formation benefits.
- Give back your time: 40 hours each year to use toward volunteering with organizations and causes you’re passionate about.
- Amplify your impact: Double your charitable giving — we match donations up to $1500 USD (or local currency equivalent).
Company HQ
Union Square, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Ashutosh Kulkarni
(CEO)Ashutosh joined Elastic in 2021 as CPO, becoming CEO in 2022. Prior to this, he was an EVP and CPO of Enterprise at McAfee, a Senior VP and GM of Web Performance and Web Security at Akamai Technologies, and a Senior VP and GM of Informatica Cloud at Informatica.
Shay Banon
(Co-Founder & CTO)Shay co-founded Elastic in 2012 and has served as the CTO since.
Navam Welihinda
(CFO)Prior to joining Elastic in 2025, Navam was the CFO at Grammarly. He also spent nearly 8 years at HashiCorp as VP of Finance and CFO and was the Head of Finance, Compose at IBM for 1 year.
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