Senior Elasticsearch Engineer

Bethesda, MD
Full Time
Experienced

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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