What Elastic does

Elastic is the company behind Elasticsearch, the open-source search and analytics engine that powers search functionality for thousands of organisations worldwide. They also build Kibana (data visualisation), Logstash (data processing), and Beats (data shipping) – together known as the Elastic Stack. Their enterprise solutions cover search, observability, and security analytics.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2012, Elastic went public on the NYSE in 2018 (ticker: ESTC). Their technology powers everything from website search bars to security monitoring for government agencies. If you’ve ever used a website search that actually worked well, there’s a decent chance Elastic was behind it.

The Amsterdam founding is significant for European job seekers – this is a company with genuine European DNA, not a US company that expanded to Europe as an afterthought.

Remote culture: what it’s actually like

Elastic has been distributed since its founding. The original team was spread across different countries before they even had a company name. Today, their 4,000+ employees work across 40+ countries, and they refer to themselves as a “distributed company” rather than remote-first – a subtle but meaningful distinction that reflects the depth of distribution in their operating model.

The open-source roots of Elasticsearch carry into the company culture. Transparency, community-driven development, and collaborative decision-making are core to how the organisation operates. The code is open, and the culture follows suit.

As a public company, Elastic offers something that many remote-first startups can’t: financial transparency, competitive compensation with stock options, and structural stability. NYSE listing means quarterly reporting, audited finances, and the kind of corporate governance that makes mortgages and visa applications less complicated.

Employees choose where they work – home, office (they have offices in Amsterdam, Mountain View, London, and others), or a mix. The flexible model means there’s no single “right” way to work, and the company invests in regular team meetups and events to maintain relationships across distances.

The honest assessment: Elastic is a large public company, and the experience varies significantly across teams. Some teams operate like nimble startups within a larger structure. Others have more corporate processes and slower decision-making. The European founding provides genuine cultural balance, but the US public company overlay means earnings calls, quarterly targets, and the associated pressures.

Hiring in Europe: the details

Countries: 40+ countries, with offices in several major European cities including Amsterdam and London. Many roles are fully remote; some are tied to specific regions for client-facing work.

Employment model: Direct hire in countries where they have entities – which includes most major European markets given their Amsterdam headquarters and London office. The public company infrastructure means employment compliance is well-established.

Timezone expectations: Varies by role. Engineering and product roles tend to be flexible. Client-facing roles like solutions architecture or sales may be region-specific. The European offices create natural hubs for EMEA work.

Salary approach: Competitive with stock options (NYSE: ESTC). As a public company, equity compensation is transparent and liquid. The total compensation package – salary plus equity plus benefits – is strong by European standards.

Language requirements: English is the primary working language. Some client-facing roles in specific European markets may benefit from additional languages.

Who they’re looking for

As a large public company, Elastic hires at scale across:

  • Software engineering (Java, Go, TypeScript)
  • Solutions architecture and consulting
  • Sales and business development
  • Marketing and product marketing
  • Customer success and support
  • Security research and engineering
  • Data science and analytics
  • Legal, finance, and operations

The hiring process is structured – multiple rounds, technical assessments for engineering roles, and panel interviews. It’s more formal than a startup but well-organised and predictable.

What current and former employees say

Employees praise the European roots, the open-source culture, and the quality of the technical work. The stock options provide meaningful financial upside that many remote-first startups can’t match. The distributed model is described as genuine – not a pandemic adaptation but a founding principle.

The challenges: large-company dynamics mean bureaucracy, org changes, and the occasional strategy pivot that can disrupt team plans. Some employees describe a gap between the scrappy, open-source culture of early Elastic and the more corporate reality of a public company. The customer-facing pressure of quarterly targets can conflict with the engineering team’s preference for thoughtful, quality-focused development.

People who thrive at Elastic are technically curious, comfortable with the duality of open-source values and public-company pressures, and attracted to working on search and data infrastructure at scale.

How to apply

Specific tips: Get hands-on with the Elastic Stack – Elasticsearch is free to use, and setting up a local cluster, indexing data, and building Kibana dashboards demonstrates genuine interest. Elastic certifications are available and provide concrete proof of skills. Understand the difference between search and observability use cases. Show that you can work independently across timezones – they’ve been distributed for over a decade and know what good remote collaboration looks like.

See our full guide to Remote-First Companies That Actually Hire in Europe.