Software Engineer - Confluent Cloud Infrastructure Platform

IBM; Markham; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to help build multi-tenant, cloud-native compute platforms powering Confluent components. You will design, develop, and operate high‑performing backend services in a distributed system landscape.

You will work with Java, Go, C/C++, Python and Kubernetes/Helm, driving reliability, scalability and operational excellence while collaborating with cross‑functional teams to deliver impact for customers.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and scaling backend systems in production.
• Proficiency in Java, Go, C/C++, Python.
• Experience configuring and deploying distributed systems using Kubernetes/Helm.
• Strong delivery, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Education in computer science or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Build backend services that are high‑performing, scalable, reliable, and resilient.
• Architect, design, develop and operate complex cloud-native components.
• Troubleshoot issues across microservices, containers, and virtualization.
• Ensure services meet availability and performance SLAs and drive operational improvements.

Skills

Programming languages

Distributed systems

Cloud-native

Code reviews

Team leadership

Operational excellence

Education

Master's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Helm

Job description

At IBM Software, we transform client challenges into solutions, building the world’s leading AI‑powered, cloud‑native products that shape the future of business and society. Our legacy of innovation creates endless opportunities for IBMers to learn, grow, and make an impact on a global scale. Working in Software means joining a team fueled by curiosity and collaboration. You’ll work with diverse technologies, partners, and industries to design, develop, and deliver solutions that power digital transformation. With a culture that values innovation, growth, and continuous learning, IBM Software places you at the heart of IBM’s product and technology landscape. Here, you’ll have the tools and opportunities to advance your career while creating software that changes the world. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. We put information in motion, streaming in near real time so organizations can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

Your Role And Responsibilities

About the Role: Backend engineers at Confluent work on a set of diverse and complex challenges such as building foundational cloud frameworks and services that power all components of the platform in the Cloud. We are building a new multi‑tenant, multi‑cloud, polyglot, cloud native compute substrate to enable new business opportunities across Confluent Cloud (including Connect, Apache Flink, Kafka and more). As a senior software engineer, you think strategically and help drive end‑to‑end technical delivery from customer experience to scaling internal operations. You are not confined to the status quo and leverage your expertise in Cloud‑native, large‑scale distributed systems to take our platform to the next level. You worry about key operational aspects (availability, reliability, performance, monitoring, emergency response, capacity planning, disaster recovery) of our new Compute Platform, and you make sure that we have a highly‑available, resilient and secure offering that our largest customers can rely on.

What You Will Do

• Build mission‑critical backend services that deliver value to our customers, playing a crucial role in architecting, designing, developing and operationalizing high‑performance, scalable, reliable and resilient services.
• Troubleshoot and debug technical issues inside a deep and complex technical stack that includes microservices, containers, and virtualization.
• Ensure operational readiness of the services and meet the availability and performance SLA commitments to our customers.
• Constantly think of process and operational improvements as a strategic engineer.

Preferred Education

Master's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Demonstrated experience designing, building, scaling and supporting backend systems in production with a solid grasp on good software engineering practices such as code reviews, deep focus on quality, and documentation.
• Strong programming and algorithmic skills. Proficiency in a major programming language, e.g., Java, Go, C/C++, Python, etc.
• Experience configuring and deploying distributed systems and microservices using modern tools, e.g., Kubernetes, Helm, etc.
• Strong focus on project delivery and communication skills.
• Experience in driving operational excellence for large, production services.
• A strong sense of customer centricity, teamwork, technical leadership and mentorship, and excitement about team and company success.
• Education in computer science or a related field, or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Proven track record of delivering large‑scale, highly available, low‑latency, high‑quality systems.
• Hands‑on technical expertise in large‑scale systems engineering or distributed systems.