Platform Engineer - Java Developer & Elastic Search

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging - but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for youConstant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What you'll do

We're looking for Senior Software Engineers to lead the design and evolution of a state-of-the-art Search Platform that combines traditional information retrieval with modern AI and LLM-driven capabilities.

The systems we build span web-scale indexing, hybrid retrieval (keyword + vector), and advanced ranking systems, delivering low-latency results across massive and heterogeneous datasets. You will play a key role in shaping the technical vision for search, driving innovations in relevance, performance, and scalability.

This role requires deep technical expertise, strong system design skills, and the ability to influence architecture and execution across teams. You will partner closely with engineering, product, and data science to deliver impactful improvements to search quality and platform capabilities.

Value You Deliver

Architect and build highly scalable, low-latency distributed search systems

Design and optimize large-scale indexing pipelines and retrieval systems

Drive hybrid search architecture (BM25 + vector search + LLM-based reranking)

Lead design and development of backend services and REST APIs using Java and Spring

Build real-time and batch data pipelines using streaming frameworks

Design event-driven architectures leveraging message brokers such as Kafka

Improve search relevance and ranking quality using ML/NLP and LTR techniques

Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across indexing and query layers

Define search quality metrics, evaluation frameworks, and experimentation strategies

Ensure system reliability, scalability, and fault tolerance using distributed system best practices

Own end-to-end lifecycle of microservices (design, development, deployment, operations)

Implement security best practices (authentication, authorization, data protection)

Lead technical design discussions and influence architectural decisions

Mentor engineers through code reviews, design guidance, and best practices

Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Data Science, and AI teams

What you bring

Education & Experience

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

8+ years of experience in backend or distributed systems development

5+ years of hands-on experience with large-scale data processing or streaming systems

Technical Skills

Core Programming & System Design

Deep expertise in Java (Java 11/17+) and JVM ecosystem

Expert-level knowledge of Spring Framework (Boot, MVC, Security, Retry)

Strong understanding of concurrency, multi-threading, and performance optimization

Proven experience designing scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems

Search & Information Retrieval

Strong experience with search technologies (Solr / Elasticsearch / OpenSearch / Lucene)

Deep understanding of indexing strategies, query execution, and relevance tuning

Experience with hybrid retrieval (keyword + vector + semantic/LLM reranking)

Hands-on experience with Learning to Rank (LTR), query understanding, and personalization

Stream Processing & Distributed Systems

Extensive experience with Apache Beam, Spark, or Storm

Strong understanding of event-driven architectures and streaming pipelines

Knowledge of processing semantics (exactly-once, at-least-once), windowing, and state management

Data Storage & Persistence

Strong expertise in NoSQL systems (preferably Cassandra)

Experience with multi-tenant architectures and high-throughput systems

Understanding of consistency models and distributed data design

Familiarity with document stores and schema design

Messaging & Event Systems

Production experience with Kafka or similar systems

Understanding of event sourcing, CQRS, and backpressure handling

Security & Cloud

Experience with OAuth and service-to-service authentication

Knowledge of encryption (in transit and at rest) and KMS

Familiarity with Kubernetes and containerized environments

Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Maven)

Testing & Quality

Strong experience with unit, integration, and distributed system testing

Familiarity with JUnit, Mockito, and embedded test frameworks

Understanding of testing strategies for distributed systems

Value Competencies

Drives technical vision and architectural decision-making

Balances immediate delivery with long-term platform evolution

Demonstrates strong ownership and accountability

Mentors and uplifts team through technical leadership

Collaborates effectively across engineering, product, and data science

Operates with a startup mindset-speed with scalability

Passion for solving complex search and relevance challenges at scale

Where you belong

We are part of the CTO Organization for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP, building a next-generation Search Platform that powers enterprise discovery at a global scale.

Our team works on cutting-edge challenges across distributed systems, search relevance, and AI-driven retrieval-combining traditional IR techniques with modern LLM-based approaches. We focus on building systems that are scalable, observable, and impactful, while fostering a culture of engineering excellence and innovation.

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