Senior Solutions Engineer- Confluent

International Business Machines Corporation; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM is seeking a Solutions Engineer in Melbourne to support customers across the journey from discovery to adoption of data streaming technologies. You will design architectures, lead technical evaluations, and collaborate with account teams to shape solutions that deliver measurable business value.

The role requires strong communication, cloud and Kubernetes knowledge, and hands-on experience with Java, Python, or SQL.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in Solutions Engineering or similar customer-facing technical role.
• Experience with distributed systems, streaming or messaging platforms.
• Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical discovery with prospects and customers to uncover drivers, requirements, risks, and success criteria.
• Design and present architectures linking Confluent capabilities to outcomes and constraints.
• Own and drive technical evaluations, proofs of concept, and value activities from scope to win.
• Run workshops and architecture discussions with developers, architects, platform teams, and stakeholders.
• Mentor peers and contribute to reusable assets and enablement materials.

Skills

Solutions engineering

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Kubernetes

Communication skills

Technical discovery

Data streaming

Tools

Java

Python

SQL

Job description

Introduction

At IBM Global Sales, we bring together innovation, collaboration, and expertise to help clients solve their most complex business challenges. Working across industries and geographies, you'll partner with colleagues, clients, and partners to co-create solutions that drive digital transformation and lasting impact.Success in Global Sales is built on curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. You'll connect technical understanding with strong people skills, building trusted relationships and shaping solutions that improve business and society. With world-class onboarding, continuous learning, and a supportive culture, IBM offers the tools and opportunities to grow your career. Join us and be part of a global team that's passionate about driving innovation and making a difference.

Your role and responsibilities

Solutions Engineers at Confluent play a critical role across the customer journey. They help customers evaluate the platform, design the right technical approach, prove value quickly, and build confidence in adopting data streaming patterns that solve meaningful business problems. This role sits at the intersection of technical depth, customer discovery, solution design, and business value articulation.

In this role, you will partner closely with Account Executives and cross-functional teams to uncover stated and unstated customer needs, shape strong technical strategies, and guide customers toward successful adoption of Confluent. You will be expected to lead technical discovery, own the technical win, and build trusted relationships with technical and business stakeholders.

What you will do

• Lead technical discovery with prospects and customers to uncover business drivers, technical requirements, risks, and success criteria.

• Design and present solution architectures that clearly connect Confluent capabilities to customer outcomes, technical constraints, and long-term platform strategy.

• Own and drive technical evaluations, proofs of concept, and proof of value activities from initial scope through technical win.

• Run workshops, white boarding sessions, and architecture discussions with developers, architects, platform teams, and business stakeholders.

• Help customers adopt best practices for data streaming, cloud, hybrid, and event-driven architectures as they move from individual projects toward broader platform adoption.

• Partner with Product, Engineering, Support, Professional Services, and Customer Success to remove blockers, shape solutions, and improve customer outcomes.

• Contribute to account strategy with Account Executives by helping qualify opportunities, build champions, and strengthen the technical and business case for change.

• Create reusable assets such as demos, presentations, reference architectures, discovery patterns, or enablement material that scale beyond a single account.

• Mentor other Solutions Engineers by sharing best practices, giving constructive feedback, and helping lift the technical quality of the wider team.

Required technical and professional expertise

• 5+ years of experience in Solutions Engineering, Sales Engineering, Solution Architecture, or a similar customer-facing technical role.

• Experience working with distributed systems, event-driven architectures, streaming or messaging platforms, data integration, and modern data platforms.

• Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure, networking, containers, Kubernetes, and modern application architectures.

• Ability to run high-quality discovery, map pain points to solution approaches, and communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Experience leading technical evaluations, workshops, and customer presentations in complex enterprise sales cycles.

• Strong communication and presentation skills, with confidence engaging developers, architects, and senior customer stakeholders.

• Hands‑on experience with one or more of Java, Python, SQL, or similar technologies commonly used to build and integrate data‑driven applications.

• A self-starter mindset with strong judgment, curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly, operate independently, and solve ambiguous technical problems.

• Proven ability to collaborate across functions and build trust with colleagues, customers, and partners.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Experience with Kafka, Apache Flink, stream processing, or real-time analytics platforms.

• Familiarity with value-based selling, MEDDPICC or similar qualification frameworks.

• Experience creating repeatable demos, technical content, playbooks, or enablement material for the broader field organization.

• A track record of mentoring peers and influencing team practices beyond your own accounts.

• Comfort engaging senior customer stakeholders and helping shape larger platform or transformation discussions.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.