Confluent - Senior Software Engineer - Stream Processing & Analytics

IBM Software transforms client challenges into AI-powered, cloud-native solutions that support digital transformation. The Senior Software Engineer role leads the design, implementation, and operation of secure, scalable backend services for a data streaming platform, while making architecture decisions, mentoring engineers, and collaborating across teams.

Responsibilities:

• Own and lead the design and implementation of complex backend services and systems in a cloud-native, microservices-based environment
• Make architecture and technical decisions that balance reliability, scalability, performance, and operability, and clearly communicate the tradeoffs
• Drive projects end to end: from requirements and design through implementation, rollout, and ongoing operation in production
• Improve service reliability and operations by defining SLOs/SLAs, strengthening observability, and participating in on-call as needed
• Collaborate across teams to define APIs, integration points, and data models that keep the platform coherent and evolvable
• Identify and drive platform and productivity improvements (tooling, automation, process) that raise the bar for the broader engineering organization
• Mentor and support other engineers through code reviews, design reviews, and technical guidance, helping grow the team’s capabilities
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, inclusive collaboration, and high technical standards

Requirements:

• 5+ years of industry experience building, scaling, and operating backend systems in production
• Deep proficiency in at least one major backend programming language (for example, Java, Go, C/C++, or Python) and strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and system design
• Hands-on experience with distributed systems (such as event-driven architectures, high-throughput services, or large-scale data pipelines) and an understanding of consistency, fault tolerance, and performance tradeoffs
• Strong experience running services in a public cloud (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including containers and orchestration (for example, Docker, Kubernetes) and modern deployment practices
• Comfortable working with databases and storage systems (SQL and/or NoSQL), including data modeling and performance optimization for scale
• A track record of technical leadership: driving projects, influencing architecture, and coordinating work across multiple engineers or teams
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to align stakeholders, explain complex ideas clearly, and drive decisions
• Experience with observability and operational excellence (metrics, logging, tracing, incident response, and postmortems)
• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Master's Degree
• Experience with designing, developing, and delivering software solutions using leading-edge technologies, including back-end and front-end development, and DevOps engineering
• Experience working in an Agile environment, collaborating with stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver high-quality software solutions
• Experience contributing to automated CI/CD pipelines, ensuring seamless integration and delivery of software solutions