Senior Software Engineer II

Details

Confluent is building a data streaming platform that moves information in near real time. This role focuses on Stream Governance products, including Confluent Schema Registry, Data Contracts, and Policies.

Responsibilities

• Develop and architect a cloud-native Stream Governance platform for Kafka and real-time data.
• Own the end-to-end design and implementation of complex backend services in a cloud-native, microservices-based environment.
• Drive projects from requirements and design through implementation, rollout, and ongoing production operation.
• Make architecture and technical decisions balancing reliability, scalability, performance, and operability.
• Solve complex technical problems and provide technical guidance through code reviews and design reviews.
• Mentor and support other engineers.
• Evaluate and improve the efficiency of the technology stack while adopting modern solutions.
• Develop, manage, and maintain a mission-critical service with a 99.99% SLA across more than 100 AWS, GCP, and Azure regions.
• Partner with engineering teams and stakeholders to plan and deliver the Data Streaming Platform roadmap.
• Contribute to continuous improvement, inclusive collaboration, and high technical standards.

Requirements

• 8+ years of industry experience designing, building, scaling, and operating backend systems in production.
• Deep proficiency in at least one major backend programming language, such as Java, Go, C/C++, or Python.
• Strong foundations in data structures, algorithms, and system design.
• Hands-on experience with distributed systems, including event-driven architectures, high-throughput services, or large-scale data pipelines.
• Strong understanding of consistency, fault tolerance, and performance trade-offs.
• Experience running production services in AWS, GCP, or Azure, including containerized workloads such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Expertise in cloud-native technologies, networking, and security.
• Experience participating in an on-call rotation.
• Proven experience leading and mentoring technical teams.
• A track record of technical leadership, including driving projects, influencing architecture, and coordinating work across engineers or teams.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building or operating mission-critical, multi-tenant, or multi-region services with strict availability and latency requirements.
• Familiarity with data streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka and Apache Flink.
• Demonstrated impact beyond the immediate team, including cross-organizational initiatives or technical vision.
• Contributions to open source, technical writing, or technical speaking.

Company Information

Confluent is an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria without regard to protected characteristics. Confluent is an IBM subsidiary that has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated into the IBM organization.