Senior Elasticsearch Engineer

Job Description

About Us:

SwarmInt is a defense AI startup developing cutting-edge computer vision and edge AI capabilities for military expeditionary forces. We strive to develop operator-in-the-loop solutions for warfighters with active contracts supporting the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.

Job Description:

We're seeking a Senior Elasticsearch Engineer to architect and optimize search infrastructure for a large-scale enterprise data solution supporting our Intelligence Community customer. You'll design systems that enable real-time search and retrieval across petabytes of data to support operational intelligence analysis and decision-making. This role requires regular on-site work at customer facilities in Bethesda, Maryland, including work in classified facilities (SCIF).

Responsibilities:

Design and implement high-performance search infrastructure for large-scale data ingestion and retrieval

Architect indexing strategies for diverse data types including time-series, geospatial, and vector embeddings

Build and optimize real-time data pipelines for continuous index population

Performance tune queries and clusters for sub-second response times on massive datasets

Integrate search capabilities with AI/ML pipelines and analytics platforms

Design data retention, archival, and lifecycle management strategies

Deploy and manage search infrastructure in containerized environments and on-premises deployments

Work in restricted and air-gapped network environments

Mentor engineers on search architecture and optimization techniques

Collaborate across teams on data architecture and integration patterns

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

8-12 years experience with Elasticsearch in production environments

Deep understanding of search engine internals, indexing, and query optimization

Experience designing and scaling distributed search clusters

Strong programming and scripting skills for automation and tooling

Experience building data ingestion pipelines

Proficiency with cluster monitoring and performance analysis

Understanding of distributed systems and data replication

Active TS/SCI with Single Scope (CI) Polygraph Required (Do not apply unless you have this)

U.S. Citizenship required

Ability to work on-site in Bethesda, Maryland 2-4 days/week including at classified facilities

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience with vector search and similarity queries

Knowledge of OpenSearch or experience with multiple search platforms

Familiarity with AI/ML workflows and embedding-based search

Experience with streaming data platforms and message queues

Knowledge of data lakehouse architectures and technologies

Experience with complementary data stores and caching systems

Understanding of workflow orchestration tools

Experience with containerization technologies (Docker)

Knowledge of government data systems and security requirements (NIST 800-171, CMMC)

Experience in air-gapped or restricted environments

Experience with enterprise-scale data solutions at petabyte scale

Benefits:

Competitive salary (~$200K based on experience)

Annual performance bonus

401k with competitive company match

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance

Clearance retention bonuses

Work on high-impact search problems at petabyte scale

Professional development budget

Collaborative startup environment with experienced technical leadership

Direct impact on intelligence capabilities for national security

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Full-time