We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer I to join the Search Platform team within Elsevier's Search and AI Platform. This role is well suited to an experienced backend engineer with hands‑on search experience who enjoys building reliable, cloud‑native systems at scale. You will work on core search services and APIs that support products such as Scopus and ScienceDirect, helping millions of users worldwide discover research and information.
You will own well‑defined components, collaborate closely with teammates, and deliver production‑ready solutions with support from senior and principal engineers. The Search Platform team builds and maintains shared search foundations used across Elsevier products, including search services, retrieval capabilities, ranking foundations, and content freshness. The platform supports both lexical and semantic search and continues to evolve toward AI‑augmented and LLM‑enabled discovery. We work closely with product, data science, and engineering teams, valuing collaboration, clear communication, and continuous improvement in a global team environment.
Responsibilities
* Design, build, and operate backend search services in production.
* Contribute to scalable, reliable, Kubernetes‑hosted systems.
* Collaborate with cross‑functional partners to turn requirements into working solutions.
* Participate in code reviews and technical discussions.
* Continuously grow your understanding of search technologies and platform architecture.
Qualifications
* Several years of professional experience in backend or platform engineering.
* Practical experience with search systems such as Elasticsearch, Solr, OpenSearch, or Lucene.
* Strong experience with Java and modern backend frameworks, including Spring and Spring Boot.
* Experience deploying and operating services in Kubernetes‑based environments.
* Experience building and running cloud‑based systems, ideally using AWS and CI/CD pipelines.
Benefits
* Generous holiday allowance with the option to buy additional days.
* Health screening, eye care vouchers, and private medical benefits.
* Wellbeing programs.
* Life assurance.
* Competitive contributory pension scheme.
* Share option scheme.
* Travel season ticket loan.
* Electric vehicle scheme.
* Optional dental insurance.
* Maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave.
* Employee assistance programme.
* Emergency care for elderly and children.
* RECARES days for charitable support.
* Employee resource groups with dedicated volunteer time.
* Extensive learning and development resources.
* Employee discounts via Perks at Work.
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