Principal Elastic Architect (Observability & Data Platform)

Principal Elastic Architect (Observability & Data Platform)

Location – Remote

End Client – Metlife

Rate – $Open to discuss for the outstanding candidate that is also all inclusive Rate

Position Summary

We are seeking a Principal Elastic Architect to lead the design, delivery, and optimization of large-scale Elastic-based platforms across enterprise environments. This role combines deep technical expertise in the Elastic Stack with strong client-facing consulting capabilities, enabling organizations to build scalable, resilient, and cost-efficient data and observability solutions.

The ideal candidate will have experience designing multi-tenant, high-ingest Elastic environments, working directly with stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust architectural solutions, and leading engagements from discovery through delivery and optimization.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Platform Design

• Design and implement large-scale Elastic architectures using Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and related components
• Architect multi-tenant, highly available, and resilient Elastic deployments across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments
• Define strategies for: Indexing and sharding, Data lifecycle management (ILM), Storage tiering (hot/warm/cold architectures)
• Lead platform design for observability (logs, metrics, APM) and enterprise search use cases

Cloud, Kubernetes & Automation

• Design and deploy Elastic platforms using Elastic Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP), Kubernetes (ECK – Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes)
• Build automation frameworks for Deployment, scaling, and upgrades, Configuration management and environment consistency
• Integrate Elastic platforms into CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows

Data Engineering & Ingestion

• Design and optimize high-throughput data ingestion pipelines using Logstash, Beats, and APIs
• Implement data transformation, normalization, and enrichment pipelines
• Ensure reliable ingestion of structured and unstructured data at scale

Performance Optimization & Cost Management

• Optimize cluster performance, indexing throughput, and query latency
• Implement storage and cost optimization strategies (field usage, compression, tiering)
• Conduct capacity planning and right-sizing of clusters

Client Engagement & Consulting

• Partner with stakeholders to gather requirements and define technical solutions
• Lead architecture workshops, discovery sessions, and solution design engagements
• Develop statements of work (SOWs), delivery plans, and technical roadmaps
• Provide executive-level guidance on Elastic platform strategy and best practices

Security, Governance & Compliance

• Implement security controls including Role-based access control (RBAC), TLS encryption and authentication (SAML, LDAP, etc.)
• Design governance models for multi-tenant environments
• Ensure compliance with enterprise and regulatory standards

Leadership & Enablement

• Mentor engineers and guide technical teams on Elastic best practices
• Provide training and documentation to enable client teams
• Lead troubleshooting efforts and provide escalation support for critical issues

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or distributed systems
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with the Elastic Stack
• Proven experience designing and deploying large-scale Elastic architectures
• Strong experience with Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), Kubernetes and containerized environments
• Experience with data ingestion frameworks and streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka)
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Python, Java, etc.)
• Experience in client-facing or consulting roles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Elastic Cloud or ECK (Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes)
• Background in observability platforms or SIEM/security analytics
• Experience with multi-tenant SaaS architectures
• Familiarity with machine learning, anomaly detection, or AI-driven search (RAG)
• Elastic certification (e.g., Elastic Certified Engineer)

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking and architectural decision-making
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to balance performance, scalability, and cost
• Problem-solving in complex, distributed environments