Principal Software Engineer - Security - Elasticsearch

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join the Elasticsearch Security team. In this role, you will lead the architecture and design of Elasticsearch's main features, including authentication, authorization, and tenant isolation.

You will work with engineering and product leaders at Elastic to provide high-performance security at all levels, ensuring that our distributed data store maintains top-quality security at scale.

Responsibilities

• Owning core security initiatives from architecture to production, focusing on the delivery of new critical features.
• Leading the technical design, plan, and execution for major security components inside the Elasticsearch core engine.
• Developing foundational security models for intricate features.
• Optimizing security performance at scale in distributed systems environments.
• Applying cryptographic solutions to address genuine customer use cases.
• Ensuring robust data isolation within shared infrastructure supporting disparate customers.
• Monitoring and applying the latest advancements and best practices in security, including authentication, identity management, cryptography, and data access management.
• Collaborating with peers across the company to embed security into new customer features from the outset.
• Driving vulnerability management efforts by collaborating closely with the InfoSec team to proactively identify, assess, and remediate security risks.
• Leveraging AI-driven tools to automate vulnerability triage, prioritization, and preliminary investigation.
• Mentoring and coaching other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and security-first development.

Requirements

• Deep knowledge of Java internals and JVM memory management, concurrency models, and writing high-performance, thread-safe, and lock-free code within large open-source or enterprise codebases.
• Proven experience designing and building scalable authorization systems, including deep experience designing scalable RBAC/ABAC models, token validation pipelines, permission compilation, and distributed cache invalidation strategies.
• Solid comprehension of distributed systems security, including node-to-node mutual trust, zero-trust transport, partition tolerance, and cluster state propagation.
• Deep knowledge of edge identity protocols (OAuth 2.0, SAML).
• Proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code while owning final outcomes.
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and seamlessly transition between different projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities.
• Ability to work autonomously, drive decisions, and lead a distributed team through asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication.

Bonus Points

• Knowledge of cipher suites, TLS handshakes, and PKI/certificate lifecycle management.
• Cryptographic methods considering memory usage and delays.
• Familiarity with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and readiness to support migration to quantum-resistant algorithms.
• Hands-on experience mapping engine-level technical controls to FedRAMP (Moderate/High), FIPS 140, and SOC 2 requirements.
• Experience working on the internals of a data store or search engine.