---
title: 'Principal Software Engineer (Application Networking) - Platform Infrastructure at Referral Board'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-software-engineer-application-networking-platform-infrastructure-rktap9qvfwwm'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Principal Software Engineer (Application Networking) - Platform Infrastructure at Referral Board

- **Company:** Referral Board
- **Location:** Greece / Ireland / Norway / Poland / Portugal / Spain
- **Posted:** 2026-09-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/referralsuseonly/jobs/8178859

## Job description

Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI.

What is The Role

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join Platform Infrastructure - Application Networking and set where Elastic Cloud application networking goes next. This work covers Ingress, security controls, private connectivity, and DNS management — the path every interaction with Elasticsearch, Kibana, and the broader Elastic stack takes. You will drive the technical vision, architecture, and design of these systems, not just

execute against an existing roadmap.

This is a Principal-level role for an engineer who has designed high-performance, scalable networking platforms and can drive technical initiatives across organizations. Elastic is investing in the reliability, security, and reach of Elastic Cloud; you will hold a high bar for those qualities while other engineering teams rely on what this platform provides.

## What You Will Be Doing

- Set the technical direction for major application networking initiatives, owning designs from proposal through general availability.

- Lead the development of Ingress, private connectivity, DNS, and security controls on a large scale for Elastic Cloud. Continuously identify and address issues related to performance, reliability, and operability.

- Lead multi-quarter, cross-organizational projects that other Elastic engineering teams rely on, and guide these projects through to delivery.

- Raise the operational quality of our services. Take charge of operational investigations from beginning to end. Lead complex incident investigations and reviews. Participate in on-call rotation.

- Mentor and support engineers across the team, serve as a subject matter expert and trusted technical advisor to the wider engineering organization, and set the standard for how we build software.

- Partner with and advise product management and senior engineering stakeholders on technical trade-offs, feasibility, and roadmap direction.

- Identify and champion improvements to security, stability, and cost efficiency before they become problems. Untangle complexity and bring architectural clarity across the platform.

## What You Bring

- Experience with building software, including setting technical direction for complex distributed systems running production at scale (Staff or Principal level, or equivalent scope).

- Deep expertise in application networking and cloud-native architecture. You should understand how services communicate at scale. Knowledge of how to design, operate, and evolve Ingress, private connectivity, DNS, and security controls is required.

- You have experience building large-scale distributed systems, rather than making use of off-the-shelf services.

- You are able to own projects from beginning to end. This covers both technical design and working with others to develop needed components. You have experience guiding work involving multiple engineers.

- You have operated high-availability SaaS platforms, responded to incidents, and improved reliability over time. You care about the quality of work shipped — testing, observability, and operability.

- You have a proven track record of using AI to accelerate development, debug complex systems, and optimize code, while still owning the final outcomes.

- You possess the ability to collaborate across functions and teams and seamlessly transition between different projects, codebases, or teams based on business priorities.

- You can work autonomously, drive decisions and results in a distributed team by leveraging asynchronous, direct, and transparent communication. You communicate clearly and can influence direction across teams and levels without formal authority.

Bonus Points

- Hands-on experience with Kubernetes networking (Cilium, external-dns, Envoy Gateway, and Crossplane) and with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and its networking ecosystem.

- You have contributed to CNCF or other open-source networking projects

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

Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation.

We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals. To request an accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email candidate_accessibility@elastic.co We will reply to your request within 24 business hours of submission.

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/fmlaen.pdf Poster; [Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision](https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/pdf/pay-transp_%20English_formattedESQA508c.pdf) Poster; https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/eppabw.pdf Poster and [Know Your Rights](https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OFCCP/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights.pdf) (Poster)

Elasticsearch develops and distributes encryption software and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls and licensing requirements for individuals who are located in or are nationals of the following sanctioned countries and regions: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”), and the Luhansk People’s Republic (“LNR”). If you are located in or are a national of one of the listed countries or regions, an export license may be required as a condition of your employment in this role. Please note that national origin and/or nationality do not affect eligibility for employment with Elastic.

Please see [here](https://www.elastic.co/legal/applicant-privacy-statement) for our Privacy Statement.

## About Referral Board

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Elastic builds the Elasticsearch platform for real-time search, observability, and generative AI, helping organizations turn data into actionable results.
- **Entity Type**: Public (NYSE: ESTC)
- **Headquarters**: Mountain View, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2012
- **Founders**: Shay Banon (creator of Elasticsearch), Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness, Simon Willnauer (co-founders of Elastic)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Enterprise software, search technology, observability, security, generative AI infrastructure
- **Target customers**: B2B – enterprises, SMBs, developers, and IT teams across all industries
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “We help you turn endless data possibilities into real results with the power of Search AI.” [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/about)

## Products & Services
- **Elasticsearch**: Distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine (open source / SaaS)
- **Kibana**: Data visualization dashboard for Elasticsearch
- **Elastic Observability**: Unified monitoring for logs, metrics, and traces
- **Elastic Security**: SIEM, endpoint security, and threat detection
- **Elastic Generative AI (Search AI)**: AI-powered search and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) capabilities

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed in provided sources (public company; latest financials available via SEC filings)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue – Not available in provided search results
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in provided sources
- **Growth Signals**: Global workforce spanning more than 40 countries and 100 nationalities; strong emphasis on distributed-first culture and continuous expansion of Search AI capabilities [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Open-source foundation** with a vibrant community and extensive plugin ecosystem
- **Unified platform** for search, observability, security, and generative AI on a single stack
- **Distributed-by-design architecture** that scales horizontally for petabyte-scale data
- **Strong brand recognition** as the de facto standard for enterprise search and log analytics

## Strategic Focus
- **Search AI**: Integrating generative AI and large language models directly into search workflows
- **Observability & Security**: Deepening capabilities in application performance monitoring and threat detection
- **Cloud growth**: Expanding Elastic Cloud offerings and multi-cloud support
- **Developer experience**: Improving APIs, SDKs, and tooling for developers

## Why Work Here
- **Distributed-by-design culture** – remote, hybrid, and in-person roles available; employees come from over 40 countries [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers)
- **Global inclusion** – “We don’t do molds. Come as you are.” Emphasis on diversity and belonging [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers)
- **Competitive benefits** – health coverage, parental leave, retirement benefits, and support for life’s important moments [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers)
- **Transparent hiring process** – clear stages including application, technical assessment, department interviews, and decision [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers/how-we-hire)
- **Referral program** – employees can refer former coworkers or friends for open roles [elastic.co](https://www.elastic.co/careers/how-we-hire)

## Sources
1. [Elastic About Page](https://www.elastic.co/about)
2. [Elastic Careers Page](https://www.elastic.co/careers)
3. [Elastic How We Hire](https://www.elastic.co/careers/how-we-hire)
4. [Greenhouse Referral Board (Elastic)](https://boards.greenhouse.io/referralsuseonly)
5. [RemoteOtter – Referral Board Company (aggregated jobs)](https://remoteotter.com/company/referral-board)

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