Principal Software Engineer (Application Networking) - Platform Infrastructure

Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale , unleashing the potential of businesses and people.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join Platform Infrastructure - Application Networking and set the direction for Elastic Cloud application networking.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Requirements

• 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.

Bonus Points

• 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.

Compensation The typical starting salary range for this role is:€98.400-€126.900 EUR.

Benefits

• 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.