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About the Role

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer with extensive search experience to design and implement complex search and retrieval systems, mentor team members, and help evolve our central search engineering architecture. You will collaborate closely with product, platform, and other engineering teams to deliver technical solutions and high-throughput services with meaningful real-world impact.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design and ensure technical consistency.
• Expand content search and improve relevance via vector and lexical search techniques.
• Build world-class search systems to enhance users’ search experience.
• Automate processes to assist other teams.
• Collaborate on new ideas to optimize systems and engineering workflows.
• Build relationships with other engineering teams to identify and solve their pain points.
• Work across the stack, from development to infrastructure.
• Design and develop scalable data processing workflows and microservices using Spark, Spark Streaming, and Airflow.
• Write clean, modular, and testable code in Python, Java, or Scala, aligned with coding standards and architecture guidelines.
• Lead implementation of system components that span multiple services and modules.
• Diagnose and resolve complex technical issues across distributed systems and data workflows.
• Lead design discussions, code reviews, and architecture sessions to ensure software quality and maintainability.
• Develop and maintain data models to support analytical and operational use cases.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to translate product requirements into reliable engineering solutions.

Requirements

• Current expertise with Lucene, Elasticsearch, Solr, or any other search engine.
• Industry experience with Semantic Search.
• Proven track record building search systems at scale.
• Proficiency in batch processing technologies, including Spark, Spark Streaming, Airflow.
• Expertise in at least one of Java, Python, Scala.
• Deep understanding of distributed system design, data modeling, and performance tuning.
• Experience with test-driven development and CI/CD practices.
• Ability to independently drive technical outcomes from problem definition to deployment.
• Familiarity with Agile, Kanban, or other iterative development methodologies.
• Familiarity with vector/embedding-based search, KNN algorithms.
• Exposure to graph-based data models or knowledge graph architecture.
• Experience building internal platforms or developer-facing data tooling.
• Knowledge of observability best practices for data systems (e.g., metrics, logs, alerts).

Skills

• Lucene
• Elasticsearch
• Solr
• Semantic Search
• Spark
• Spark Streaming
• Airflow
• Python
• Java
• Scala
• Distributed system design
• Data modeling
• Performance tuning
• Test-driven development
• CI/CD practices
• Vector/embedding-based search
• KNN algorithms
• Graph-based data models
• Knowledge graph architecture
• Observability best practices

Experience Level

• Principal

Salary/Compensations

• U.S. National Base Pay Range: $115,400 - $192,300
• Maryland: $121,200 - $201,900
• New York: $126,900 - $211,500
• New York City: $138,400 - $230,700
• Rochester, NY: $115,400 - $192,300
• New Jersey: $136,213 - $217,587

Benefits

• Eligible for an annual incentive bonus.
• Country specific benefits.

About the Company

• Elsevier is a global leader in advanced information and decision support for science and healthcare.
• We believe that by working together with the communities we serve, we can shape human progress to go further, happen faster, and benefit all.
• We support continuous discovery and uphold the highest standards of content integrity, reliability, and reproducibility so the communities we serve can advance their field of science, healthcare or innovation with confidence.
• By combining high-quality content with powerful analytics, we transform complexity into clarity and deliver mission-critical insights that help professionals make better decisions when it matters most.
• We deliver insights that help research institutions, governments and funders achieve their goals.
• We help researchers discover and share knowledge, collaborate, and accelerate innovation.
• We help librarians provide verified, quality information to universities.
• We help innovators turn knowledge into new products.
• We help health professionals improve patient care and educators train the next generation of doctors and nurses.
• Connecting quality content and innovative technologies, we make progress go further and happen faster.
• By championing inclusion and sustainability, we ensure progress benefits all.
• With 9,500 employees, over 2,300 technologists in 5 major tech hubs, and more than 60 locations across the globe, we are committed to supporting the scientific and healthcare communities around the world.
• We offer a diverse range of opportunities across technology, commercial, business, and early career jobs.
• If you are looking for a career that inspires progress in science, innovation and health, and allows you to grow every day, find your team at Elsevier.
• Elsevier is part of RELX Group.
• Let’s shape progress together. Join us. elsevier.com/about/careers

Equal Opportunity

• We are committed to providing a fair and accessible hiring process. If you have a disability or other need that requires accommodation or adjustment, please let us know by completing our Applicant Request Support Form or please contact 1-855-833-5120.
• Criminals may pose as recruiters asking for money or personal information. We never request money or banking details from job applicants. Learn more about spotting and avoiding scams here.
• Please read our Candidate Privacy Policy.
• We are an equal opportunity employer: qualified applicants are considered for and treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, protected veteran status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
• USA Job Seekers: EEO Know Your Rights.