Confluent Kafka Engineer

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled Confluent Kafka Engineer to join our dynamic team. The ideal candidate will be responsible for the development, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and production support of our Confluent Kafka-based systems. This role requires deep expertise in Kafka architecture, including Confluent Control Center, KSQLDB, Kafka Streams, and Kafka Connect. The engineer will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure the smooth operation of our data streaming services and provide support across various environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Development: Design, develop, and implement Kafka-based solutions to meet business requirements, utilizing Confluent Control Center, KSQLDB, Kafka Streams, and Kafka Connect
• Write and maintain high-quality code for Kafka producers, consumers, and stream processing applications
• Develop and manage Kafka connectors for seamless integration with external systems, ensuring data consistency and reliability
• Utilize Kafka Streams for real-time processing of streaming data, transforming and enriching data as it flows through the pipeline
• Employ KSQLDB for stream processing tasks, including real-time analytics and transformations
• Collaborate with data engineers, software developers, and DevOps teams to integrate Kafka solutions with existing systems
• Ensure all Kafka-based solutions are scalable, secure, and optimized for performance
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Develop and execute UAT plans to validate Kafka solutions, including components such as Kafka Streams, KSQLDB, and Kafka Connect, before deployment to production
• Work closely with QA teams to identify and resolve defects during the UAT phase
• Ensure all UAT activities comply with the organizationu2019s standards and best practices
• Provide detailed reports on UAT outcomes and work with developers to implement necessary fixes
• Production Support: Monitor and maintain Kafka clusters, including components like Confluent Control Center, to ensure high availability and reliability of data streaming services
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to Kafka performance, latency, and data integrity, including issues specific to Kafka Streams, KSQLDB, and Kafka Connect
• Perform routine maintenance tasks such as patching, upgrades, and backups for Kafka clusters and associated components
• Implement monitoring solutions to proactively identify and mitigate potential production issues, leveraging Confluent Control Center for comprehensive cluster visibility
• Provide 24/7 support for production systems, including participation in on-call rotation
• Desired Candidate Profile 3+ years of hands-on experience with Apache Kafka and Confluent Kafka in a production environment, including experience with Confluent Control Center, KSQLDB, Kafka Streams, and Kafka Connect
• Proven experience in Kafka development, including producer and consumer API, stream processing, and connector development
• Experience with Kafka cluster management, including setup, configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting
• Familiarity with distributed systems, microservices architecture, and event-driven design patterns
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and containerization (Kubernetes) is a plus
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Java, Python, or Scala
• Strong knowledge of Kafka internals, including brokers, zookeepers, topics, partitions, and offsets
• Experience with monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana) and logging frameworks (e.g., Log4j, ELK Stack)
• Proficiency in using Confluent Control Center for monitoring, managing, and optimizing Kafka clusters
• Expertise in Kafka Streams for building scalable, fault-tolerant stream processing applications
• Experience with KSQLDB for real-time processing and analytics on Kafka topics
• Strong understanding of Kafka Connect for integrating Kafka with external data sources and sinks
• Understanding of networking, security, and compliance aspects related to Kafka
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automation tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks effectively
• A proactive approach to learning new technologies and improving existing processes

Education

Bacheloru2019s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.