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Senior Java Software Engineer - Search Inference - Platform

ElasticPortugalEnterprise Search - Engineering
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Salary
€55.800 — €88.300 EUR
Job type
Full-time
Experience
Senior · 5+ yrs
Posted
6 Oct 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Based in Portugal, the Senior Java Software Engineer role focuses on driving work on the Inference API within the Elasticsearch team. This full-time position suits an experienced backend developer with a strong production background in Java and an interest in machine learning integrations.

Role Overview

Elastic seeks a Senior Java Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch team and manage the Inference API. The position involves building integration layers between Elasticsearch and external machine learning services such as Elastic Inference Service, third-party providers, and self-hosted models. The work encompasses protocol design, streaming, asynchronous execution, and plugin architecture maintenance.

Key Responsibilities

Build and maintain integrations with internal systems and external inference providers, covering schema negotiation, Server-Sent Events streaming, and error normalization.
Contribute to the internal architecture of the inference plugin, including task settings, chunking strategies, rate limiting, and provider-level configuration.
Review open source contributions to the codebase and collaborate with third-party engineers to ensure adherence to technology standards.
Participate in an on-call rotation for inference-related incidents.
Write thorough unit tests, YAML-based REST integration tests, and rolling-upgrade tests.

Requirements

5+ years of production Java experience with contributions to a large, established codebase.
Knowledge of core Java, standard data structures, concurrency constructs, and newer language features.
Experience crafting ergonomic APIs and reasoning through architectural tradeoffs.
Familiarity with low-level Java concepts including concurrency, parallelism, and classloaders.
Ability to use AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code.
Capability to collaborate cross-functionally and work autonomously in a distributed team environment.

Nice to Have

Knowledge of JDK internals such as modules, the Java memory model, garbage collection, database load, and caching techniques.
Experience with machine learning systems.
Contributions to and ownership of open-source projects.
Knowledge of Java build tools with a strong preference for Gradle.
Experience working in a platform or developer productivity team.

Skills and Tools

Java
Elasticsearch
Inference API
Gradle
Maven
REST APIs

Salary and Benefits

Base salary range of €55,800 to €88,300 EUR per year.
Health coverage for the employee and family in many locations.
Flexible locations and schedules.
Generous vacation days each year.
Donation matching up to $2000 or local currency equivalent.
Up to 40 hours each year for volunteer projects.
Minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave.

About the Company

Elastic is the Search AI Company that enables users to find answers in real time at scale across structured and unstructured data. Its cloud-based solutions serve search, security, and observability use cases for more than 50% of the Fortune 500.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply on the official company careers page.

Skills and tech stack

JavaElasticsearchGradleMavenMachine LearningGenerative AI

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary range for the Senior Java Software Engineer position?

The typical starting salary range is €55,800 to €88,300 EUR.

Where is the job located?

The role is located in Portugal.

How many years of experience are required?

The role requires 5+ years of production Java experience.

What does the role entail regarding machine learning?

The position involves driving work on the Inference API, which integrates Elasticsearch with external machine learning services, third-party providers, and self-hosted models.

Is there a variable compensation component?

No, compensation for this role consists solely of a base salary with no variable component.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Elastic careers page.

Apply on company site