Kafka DevOps Engineer

Citibank (Switzerland) AG; Mississauga; On-site; Confidential; Full time

Job summary

Citi is seeking an experienced Kafka operations professional to join the KaaS App & Infra Operations team. You will provide production support, manage releases, and collaborate with platform engineers to ensure stability and scalability of Kafka services across regions.

This role requires 5+ years in application & infrastructure operations, strong Kafka experience, and proficiency with Unix systems. You will contribute to documentation, continuous improvement, and incident management efforts

Qualifications

• 5+ years of proven experience in an Application & Infrastructure Operations role.
• Solid production Kafka experience (Kafka Brokers, Connect, Zookeeper).
• Exposure to Confluent stack is a plus (ksqlDB, Rest Proxy, Schema Registry, Control Center).
• Proficiency with automation tools, specifically Ansible.
• Experience administering Unix systems and applications.
• Proven monitoring using Grafana and Splunk.
• Strong communication with stakeholders at all levels.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide L1/L2 technical support, incident resolution, and manage releases.
• Oversee Change & Release Management and Incident & Problem Management.
• Lead/participate in post-release health checks and CoB procedures.
• Develop and maintain technical support documentation.
• Coordinate with platform engineering and users/tenants as liaison.
• Assist with regional handovers and follow-the-sun support.
• Escalate major outages and ensure clear communications to stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve stability and efficiency of KaaS.

Skills

Kafka administration

Incident resolution

Monitoring & alerting

Stakeholder communication

Automation (Ansible)

Unix system administration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Grafana

Splunk

Confluent stack

Job description

About the Role

Join the Kafka as-a-Service (KaaS) App & Infra Operations team, operating within a DevSecOps model and collaborating closely with KaaS Engineering. This role is focused on providing technical support and production management functions to ensure the robust operation, stability, and scaling of our Kafka product offering across the bank.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to and participate in the global Kafka as-a-Service (KaaS) App & Infra Operations function, including a follow-the-sun support model.
• Collaborate closely with platform engineering teams to align on shared goals and serve as a primary liaison between platform users/tenants and the engineering team for queries.
• Execute daily operational tasks including start-of-day checks, continuous monitoring, and regional handovers.
• Provide L1/L2 technical support, incident/problem resolution, and manage releases, ensuring stability, quality, and functionality against service level expectations.
• Implement and carry out internal business continuity (CoB) and resiliency procedures, including performing post-release and infrastructure update health checks.
• Manage critical operational processes such as Change & Release Management and Incident & Problem Management.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive technical support documentation.
• Actively contribute to, and where applicable, lead initiatives focused on improving the stability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the KaaS offering.
• Participate in and, where applicable, provide technical oversight, overseeing technical issue escalation and resolution of major system outages, ensuring clear communication to all interested parties.
• Perform other duties and functions as assigned.

Experience 5+ years of proven experience in an Application & Infrastructure Operations role. Solid experience working with the Kafka ecosystem (Kafka Brokers, Connect, Zookeeper) in a production environment. Experience with other distributed messaging/computing platforms and a willingness to learn Kafka will also be considered. Exposure to the Confluent stack (Confluent ksqlDB, Rest Proxy, Schema Registry, Control Center) is a plus. Proficiency in automation tools, specifically Ansible, for managing, installing, and upgrading Kafka services across multiple clusters. Demonstrated experience in administering Unix systems and the applications deployed on them. Proficiency in using monitoring systems such as Grafana and Splunk for application health checks. Track record of proposing and driving operational efficiency and process improvements within support functions. Skilled in communicating effectively with relevant stakeholders at all levels. Experience with issue tracking/reporting tools and Problem Management tools. Education: Bachelor’s degree/University degree or equivalent experience. This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required.

Job Family Group: Technology

Job Family: Applications Development

Time Type: Full time

Primary Location Full Time

Salary Range: $94,300.00 - $141,500.00

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi. View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.