Principal Software Engineer

• customer-facing layer • public and internal APIs • We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead technical direction and execution across the Billing Experience domain. • This is a hands-on technical leadership role that combines system design, operational excellence, and cross-team collaboration. You will shape how Elastic’s billing services evolve — improving scalability, reliability, and developer productivity across multiple components and teams. • system design, operational excellence, and cross-team collaboration • You will partner closely with Product, SRE, and Cloud Infrastructure teams to ensure our systems are resilient, observable, and efficient at global scale. • Extensive experience (8+ years) in backend or platform engineering, with strong expertise in Python and PostgreSQL (schema design, performance optimization, HA setups). • strong expertise in Python and PostgreSQL • Deep understanding of distributed systems and event-driven architectures in large-scale SaaS environments. • Deep understanding of distributed systems • Operational focus with proven experience improving reliability, observability, and incident response in production systems. • Operational focus • Strong background in cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including networking, IAM, monitoring, and deployment patterns. • Strong background in cloud-native infrastructure • Demonstrated ability to design and lead multi-quarter projects that span multiple teams or domains, driving consensus and measurable results. • design and lead multi-quarter projects • Proven record of mentoring engineers, setting technical direction, and elevating engineering quality standards. • mentoring engineers • Experience with SaaS billing, metering, or financial systems is a strong plus. • SaaS billing, metering, or financial systems • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to influence across organizational boundaries and present clearly to technical and non-technical partners. • influence across organizational boundaries • Comfortable working autonomously in a globally distributed, asynchronous environment. • autonomously • Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People • As a distributed company, diversity drives our identity. Whether you’re looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do. • We strive to have parity of benefits across regions and while regulations differ from place to place, we believe taking care of our people is the right thing to do. • 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