Senior Software Engineer II - Apache Kafka

We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.

One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.

About The Role

Our team’s mission is to advance the innovation of Apache Kafka both within Confluent and the open source community. We are a team of passionate engineers who love solving complex distributed systems and infrastructure problems. Our team includes highly respected Apache Kafka committers and PMC members that you will be working with to help shape the next generation of Kafka APIs, Kafka Protocols and Kafka Streams. You will be instrumental in driving technical projects end-to-end, working closely with the team and key stakeholders to design, architect, and develop top-notch solutions. Here are examples of some of the challenges we've taken on in recent years:

Apache Kafka's Next-Gen Rebalance Protocol

Centralized Monitoring and Troubleshooting for Kafka Clients

Queues for Kafka

Kafka Streams

Apache Kafka 4.0

What You Will Do

• Independently drive the design and execution of complex projects end to end
• Contribute advancement to the Apache Kafka project
• Work with customers to understand their requirement and making them successful
• Represents the team in cross-functional design/architecture meetings
• Provide guidance and mentorship to other engineers
• Collaborate with other engineers and make decision which benefits Apache Kafka and Confluent
  
  

What You Will Bring

• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science or a related field, or equivalent work experience
• 4+ years of relevant experience in distributed systems, query and stream processing
• Strong fundamentals in distributed systems design and development
• Experience building and operating highly scalable and performant systems
• Solid understanding of basic systems operations (disk, network, operating systems, etc)
• A self starter with the ability to work effectively in teams
• Proficiency in Java, Scala or other statically typed languages
  
  

What Gives You An Edge

• Apache Kafka contributor
• A strong background in distributed storage systems or databases
• Experience/knowledge with public clouds (AWS, Azure or GCP)
• Interest in evangelism (giving talks at tech conferences, writing blog posts evangelizing Kafka)
  
  

Ready to build what's next? Let’s get in motion.

Come As You Are

Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.