Principal Software Engineer - Security

Job Summary

Leading the architecture and design of Elasticsearch's security features, the full-time Principal Software Engineer - Security will focus on initiatives such as authentication, authorization, and tenant isolation while collaborating with engineering and product leaders in a remote environment.

Key responsibilities

• Owning core security initiatives from architecture to production, delivering new critical features for the Elasticsearch core engine
• Optimizing security performance at scale in distributed systems and applying cryptographic solutions to real customer use cases
• Mentoring and coaching other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and security-first development

Required qualifications

• Deep knowledge of Java internals and JVM memory management, with experience in high-performance, thread-safe coding
• Proven experience in designing scalable authorization systems, including RBAC/ABAC models and token validation pipelines
• Solid understanding of distributed systems security principles, including zero-trust transport and cluster state propagation
• Familiarity with edge identity protocols such as OAuth 2.0 and SAML
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI for development acceleration and system optimization