Lead Devops Engineer (Kafka & Open Search)

BMC Helix is an innovative company focused on delivering AI-native solutions for IT organizations. They are seeking a Lead DevOps / Platform Engineer specializing in Kafka and OpenSearch to design, automate, and operate large-scale data platform services, ensuring performance and reliability while collaborating with global teams.

Responsibilities:

• Architect, deploy, and operate highly available Kafka and OpenSearch clusters for large‑scale streaming, search, and observability workloads
• Define patterns for scaling, data retention, replication, and disaster recovery across hybrid and distributed environments
• Optimize performance, reliability, and cost efficiency for multi‑tenant data platforms
• Lead adoption of Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins, and GitOps workflows to automate provisioning, configuration, patching, and upgrades
• Implement automated schema management, connector deployments, and data ingestion pipelines for Kafka topics and OpenSearch indices
• Design CI/CD workflows that integrate with streaming and search services
• Deploy and manage Kafka, OpenSearch, and supporting services on Kubernetes using Helm charts and operators
• Ensure resilient orchestration of stateful workloads and efficient resource utilization
• Build observability frameworks for Kafka brokers, topics, consumers, and OpenSearch nodes, including metrics, logging, and alerting
• Partner with SRE and platform teams to meet 99.99% uptime SLAs and proactively mitigate issues
• Enforce RBAC, encryption, auditing, and compliance controls for sensitive data streams and search indices
• Automate vulnerability patching, certificate management, and security hardening across platforms
• Drive initiatives that reduce operational overhead, improve reliability, and optimize financial efficiency
• Mentor engineers on best practices for distributed data systems and platform engineering
• Align DevOps strategies with business goals around performance, uptime, and cost

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field
• 10+ years of DevOps, Platform, or SRE experience with distributed data services
• Hands-on experience with Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, and CI/CD automation
• Strong background in database DevOps, data operations, or cloud database automation
• Deep knowledge of Kafka, OpenSearch, and large-scale data platforms
• Advanced knowledge of Terraform, Ansible, CI/CD tooling, Kubernetes, and database automation
• Advanced proficiency with IaC, GitOps, and CI/CD workflows
• Skilled in multi-cloud and on-premises integrations
• Proficiency with Python, Bash, and automation frameworks
• Strong cross-functional leadership with global teams
• Anticipates and resolves scaling, reliability, and cost challenges
• Experience supporting PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and/or modern data platforms
• Skilled in building, optimizing, and automating data pipelines for large-scale operations
• Aligns DevOps automation with business vision and cost savings
• Works closely with DBAs, Data Engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders
• Clearly explains complex technical solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Anticipates and mitigates risks to maintain database reliability and performance
• Stays ahead of evolving data technologies and prepares the team for adoption
• Provides technical mentorship in DevOps and database automation best practices
• Kafka certifications (Confluent or equivalent)
• Cloud: AWS/Azure/GCP/OCI DevOps or Database certifications
• IaC & Automation: HashiCorp Terraform Professional, Ansible Automation certifications
• Containerization: Docker Certified Associate, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• DevOps: DevOps Institute certifications (DevOps Foundation, DevSecOps Engineering)