Principal Product Manager (Search Relevance)

Exciting opportunity as a Principal Product Manager at Elastic, leading groundbreaking technical innovations in search, AI, and database functionalities.

Elastic

United States
Full-time
Mid-Senior
On-Site

Exciting opportunity as a Principal Product Manager at Elastic, leading groundbreaking technical innovations in search, AI, and database functionalities.

Industry Not Specified

Salary Not Specified

About

Elastic

Elastic is a search AI company that provides solutions for search, observability, and security, helping organizations find answers from their data at scale.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California, United States

Right now,

Elastic

has

18

open

product

positions

Company Size

1000+ employees

Funding Stage

IPO / Public

Industry

Industry Not Specified

🚀 Product Careers Newsletter

Get curated Product jobs, insights, and career advice built for new and growing PMs direct to your inbox every week.
Thank you for Subscribing to PM Careers
Oops! Something went wrong - please try again.

Job Description

{"absolute_url":"https://jobs.elastic.co/jobs?gh_jid=6657456&gh_jid=6657456","data_compliance":[{"type":"gdpr","requires_consent":false,"requires_processing_consent":false,"requires_retention_consent":false,"retention_period":null,"demographic_data_consent_applies":false}],"education":"education_optional","internal_job_id":3081438,"location":{"name":"United States"},"metadata":[{"id":32131013,"name":"Requisition open date","value":"2025-02-24","value_type":"date"},{"id":168141,"name":"Target Remote Countries / States Locations [For Job Wrapping]","value":["Canada","Greece","Ireland","Israel","Poland","Spain","Sweden","Switzerland","United Kingdom","United States"],"value_type":"multi_select"},{"id":33574685,"name":"Types of Hiring","value":null,"value_type":"single_select"},{"id":20164553,"name":"FADV_Account","value":null,"value_type":"single_select"},{"id":20164588,"name":"FADV_Package","value":null,"value_type":"single_select"},{"id":30595384,"name":"Seniority","value":"Mid-Senior Level","value_type":"single_select"}],"id":6657456,"updated_at":"2025-08-27T20:10:44-04:00","requisition_id":"R9205","title":"Principal Product Manager (Search Relevance)","company_name":"Elastic","first_published":"2025-02-28T17:13:33-05:00","content":"

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

\n
Elastic seeks an exceptional Technical Principal Product Manager to lead our teams who are pioneering the next-generation of query languages and vector database capabilities for Elasticsearch. Our Search team brings the capabilities of Elasticsearch and our platform to market for a large range of use cases including applied AI for agentic applications, and traditional search experiences. You will lead cross-team initiatives to define and deliver breakthrough technical features and platform capabilities.
\n
 
\n
Our diverse, global team spans over 40 countries, building inclusive, user-focused products at significant scale.
\n
 
\n
What You Will Be Doing:
\n
    \n
  • Lead the strategic vision and execution for new query languages, data field types and  other vector database functionalities within Elasticsearch, incorporating new innovations in machine learning and AI.
  • \n
  • Cross-Team Initiative Leadership: Drive complex, cross-functional initiatives with engineering, platform, and research teams to deliver groundbreaking technical innovations in search, vector storage, and AI-driven relevance, reflecting a strong track record in leading significant product initiatives and multi-platform integration programs.
  • \n
  • Architectural Evolution: Champion the evolution of Elastic's search architecture, focusing on scalable vector indexing, efficient similarity search, reranking and advanced query processing.
  • \n
  • Technical Product Ownership: Write detailed product artifacts such as PRDs, PRFAQs for new search language constructs and vector database features, ensuring developer usability, based on experience managing developer platforms and launching developer-facing services.
  • \n
  • Provide Customer and Competitive Insights & Research: Conduct in-depth market analysis, competitive technical assessments, and engage with thought leaders to inform the technical roadmap, consistent with research and strategic product definition.
  • \n
  • Developer & Community Engagement: Collaborate with developers, data scientists, and the open-source community to gather feedback, validate designs, and drive adoption of new capabilities, leveraging experience in developer relations and growing feature adoption.
  • \n
  • P&L ownership : Be accountable for driving rapid growth and adoption of Elasticsearch, with continued evaluation of our pricing, margins and COGS of released features.
  • \n
\n
What You Bring:
\n
    \n
  • Demonstrated leadership in defining and launching complex technical products in search, databases, query languages, or AI/ML platforms.
  • \n
  • Deep expertise in vector databases, search pipelines, similarity search algorithms, and distributed systems architecture, including integrating ML models, adapting LLMs, and building privacy-preserving compute platforms.
  • \n
  • Exceptional communication skills for complex technical concepts.
  • \n
  • Curiosity to truly understand the technology that serves the majority of the world’s search experiences
  • \n
  • Strong understanding of distributed systems, data platforms, and cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS ML services).
  • \n
  • Deep empathy for developer challenges, translating them into product opportunities.
  • \n
  • Experience defining technical value propositions and competitive differentiation.
  • \n
  • Strong interest and understanding of cutting-edge technologies like vector databases, ML, and generative AI (e.g., RAG, LLM integration).
  • \n
  • Direct PM experience with search platforms, AI/ML platforms, or developer tooling is highly desirable.
  • \n
  • Ability to read and understand code (e.g., Python, Java, Go) and engage in technical discussions, reflecting a strong technical foundation including past software engineering roles.
  • \n
\n

 


Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary.  This role does not have a variable compensation component.  

\n

The typical starting salary range for new hires in this role is listed below.  In select locations (including Seattle WA, Los Angeles CA, the San Francisco Bay Area CA, and the New York City Metro Area), an alternate range may apply as specified below. 

\n

These ranges represent the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting.  We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the ranges may be modified in the future.  

\n

An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

\n

Elastic believes that employees should have the opportunity to share in the value that we create together for our shareholders. Therefore, in addition to cash compensation, this role is currently eligible to participate in Elastic's stock program.  Our total rewards package also includes a company-matched 401k with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings, along with a range of other benefits offered with a holistic emphasis on employee well-being.

The typical starting salary range for this role is:
$189,800$236,800 USD
The typical starting salary range for this role in the select locations listed above is:
$198,900$268,500 USD

Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People

\n

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.

\n

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.

\n
    \n
  • Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary
  • \n
  • Health coverage for you and your family in many locations
  • \n
  • Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles
  • \n
  • Generous number of vacation days each year
  • \n
  • Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service
  • \n
  • Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love
  • \n
  • Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
  • \n
\n

Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. 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.

\n

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.

\n

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster; Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision Poster; Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster and Know Your Rights (Poster)

\n

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.

\n

Please see here for our Privacy Statement.

","departments":[{"id":69108,"name":"Enterprise Search - Application","child_ids":[],"parent_id":69107}],"offices":[{"id":79985,"name":"Canada","location":null,"child_ids":[57134],"parent_id":79984},{"id":80182,"name":"Greece","location":null,"child_ids":[],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80191,"name":"Ireland","location":null,"child_ids":[54598],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80181,"name":"Israel","location":null,"child_ids":[83911],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80207,"name":"Poland","location":null,"child_ids":[],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80205,"name":"Spain","location":null,"child_ids":[212141],"parent_id":80176},{"id":204962,"name":"Sweden","location":null,"child_ids":[],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80200,"name":"Switzerland","location":null,"child_ids":[],"parent_id":80176},{"id":80195,"name":"United Kingdom","location":null,"child_ids":[20739],"parent_id":80176},{"id":73204,"name":"United States","location":null,"child_ids":[51927,69277,85933,87403,20729,20746,20743,44935,44931,44937,44936],"parent_id":79984}],"compliance":[{"type":"eeoc","questions":[],"description":"

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

\n"},{"type":"eeoc","questions":[{"required":false,"label":"DisabilityStatus","fields":[{"name":"disability_status","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"I do not want to answer","value":"3"},{"label":"No, I do not have a disability and have not had one in the past","value":"2"},{"label":"Yes, I have a disability, or have had one in the past","value":"1"}]}]}],"description":"

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

\n
\n
\n
Form CC-305
\n
Page 1 of 1
\n
\n
\n
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
\n
Expires 04/30/2026
\n
\n
\n
\nWhy are you being asked to complete this form?\n

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

\n

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

\nHow do you know if you have a disability?\n

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

\n
    \n
  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • \n
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • \n
  • Blind or low vision
  • \n
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • \n
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • \n
  • Celiac disease
  • \n
  • Cerebral palsy
  • \n
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • \n
  • Diabetes
  • \n
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • \n
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • \n
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • \n
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • \n
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • \n
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • \n
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • \n
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • \n
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • \n
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • \n
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • \n
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • \n
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • \n
\n"},{"type":"eeoc","questions":[{"required":false,"label":"VeteranStatus","fields":[{"name":"veteran_status","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"I don't wish to answer","value":"3"},{"label":"I identify as one or more of the classifications of a protected veteran","value":"2"},{"label":"I am not a protected veteran","value":"1"}]}]}],"description":"

\n If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.\n As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure\n the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories\n is as follows:\n

\n

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

\n

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

\n

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

\n

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

\n"},{"type":"eeoc","questions":[{"required":false,"label":"Race","fields":[{"name":"race","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Decline To Self Identify","value":"8"},{"label":"Two or More Races","value":"7"},{"label":"Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander","value":"6"},{"label":"White","value":"5"},{"label":"Hispanic or Latino","value":"4"},{"label":"Black or African American","value":"3"},{"label":"Asian","value":"2"},{"label":"American Indian or Alaskan Native","value":"1"}]}]},{"required":false,"label":"Gender","fields":[{"name":"gender","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Decline To Self Identify","value":"3"},{"label":"Female","value":"2"},{"label":"Male","value":"1"}]}]}],"description":"

Voluntary Self-Identification


For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.\nCompletion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring\nprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a\nconfidential file.

\n\n

As set forth in Elastic’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,\nwe do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

\n"}],"demographic_questions":null,"questions":[{"description":null,"label":"First Name","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"first_name","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Last Name","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"last_name","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Preferred First Name","required":false,"fields":[{"name":"preferred_name","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Email","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"email","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Phone","required":false,"fields":[{"name":"phone","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Resume/CV","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"resume","type":"input_file","values":[]},{"name":"resume_text","type":"textarea","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Cover Letter","required":false,"fields":[{"name":"cover_letter","type":"input_file","values":[]},{"name":"cover_letter_text","type":"textarea","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Hello and a sincere Thank You for your interest in us. \*\*\*\*\*\*IMPORTANT: success in this role requires having very specific experience building highly technical products and solutions around search algorithms, vector databases, query languages, distributed systems, and related tech. Do you have such experience? (NOTE: simply checking "yes" will not suffice; experience must also be evident in resume and ideally your LinkedIn profile in order to warrant engagement. This is being emphasized to save you the hassle of completing this application if you don't align with this narrow criteria.)","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_59707626","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Yes","value":1},{"label":"No","value":0}]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Professional Profile (LinkedIn, Github, Website, etc)","required":false,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414934","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Will you require Elastic's sponsorship to continue or extend your work authorization status?","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414935","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Yes","value":1},{"label":"No","value":0}]}]},{"description":null,"label":"In what countries do you have the unrestricted right to work?","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414936","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Please list your most recent country of citizenship or permanent residency.","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414937","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Would you require an export license to access Elastic’s technology? (Individuals who are not U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents of the U.S., or protected individuals under the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C.1324b(a)(3)) AND who are nationals of Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”), and the Luhansk People’s Republic (“LNR”) would require an export license to access or discuss Elastic’s proprietary technology that relates to source code that enables encryption functionality.","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414938","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Yes","value":1},{"label":"No","value":0}]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Gender Pronouns (She/Her/Hers, He/Him/His, They/Them/Theirs, etc.)","required":false,"fields":[{"name":"question_54414939","type":"input_text","values":[]}]},{"description":"Elastic Privacy Notice ["https://www.elastic.co/legal/applicant-privacy-statement"] ","label":"Do you consent to Elastic processing your personal data for the purposes of this application? For additional details, please see our Applicant Privacy Statement linked below. ","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"question_57807170","type":"multi_value_single_select","values":[{"label":"Yes","value":1},{"label":"No","value":0}]}]}],"location_questions":[{"description":null,"label":"Longitude","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"longitude","type":"input_hidden","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Latitude","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"latitude","type":"input_hidden","values":[]}]},{"description":null,"label":"Location","required":true,"fields":[{"name":"location","type":"input_text","values":[]}]}]}