Senior Software Engineer - Confluent

International Business Machines Corporation; Ahmedabad District; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software in India is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and operate backend systems for cloud-native data platforms. You will contribute to Kafka connectors, microservices, and distributed infrastructure, ensuring reliability and performance across multi-tenant environments.

You will collaborate with global teams, participate in on-call rotations, and advance automated testing, monitoring, and capacity planning.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of backend experience in production systems.
• Solid software quality mindset with focus on testing and documentation.
• Proficiency in Java, Go, C/C++, or Python and cloud-native tooling.
• Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, Helm and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Build mission-critical infrastructure: Develop, test, and operationalize high-performance, scalable, and resilient backend services.
• Build and evolve Kafka connectors: Design, develop, and maintain Kafka Connect connectors for integrating with external data systems.
• Scale and optimize connector performance: Improve performance, scalability, and elasticity of connectors in cloud/on-prem environments.
• Troubleshoot & debug: Work with microservices, Kubernetes, containers, and virtualization to resolve issues and optimize performance.
• Support operational excellence: Participate in on-call rotations and ensure service availability and performance SLAs.
• Innovate & improve: Identify architectural, process, and operational improvements.

Skills

Backend engineering

Java

Go

Python

C/C++

Cloud-native / Kubernetes

On-call experience

Communication

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Helm

Job description

Introduction

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.

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 multi-tenant, multi-cloud, cloud-native compute substrate to enable seamless data integration across Confluent Cloud.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you think strategically and you help drive end-to-end technical delivery from the customer experience to scaling internal operations. You leverage your growing expertise in cloud-native, distributed systems to help take our execution platform to the next level. You care deeply about the key operational aspects (availability, reliability, performance, monitoring, capacity planning, and disaster recovery) of our Connect Platform, helping ensure we provide a highly available, resilient, and secure environment that our largest customers can rely on to run their mission-critical data pipelines.

What You Will Do

• Build mission-critical infrastructure: Develop, test, and operationalize high-performance, scalable, and resilient backend services.
• Build and evolve Kafka connectors: Design, develop, and maintain Kafka Connect connectors for integrating with external data systems.
• Scale and optimize connector performance: Solve complex challenges in the stream processing space using cloud and on-premises resources to improve the performance, scalability, and elasticity of Kafka Connectors.
• Troubleshoot & debug: Dive into a complex technical stack that includes microservices, Kubernetes, containers, and virtualization to resolve issues and optimize performance.
• Support operational excellence: Participate in on-call rotations, ensure the operational readiness of our services, and help the team meet availability and performance SLA commitments.
• Innovate & improve: Act as a proactive engineer who identifies and suggests architectural, process, and operational improvements.

Required technical and professional expertise

• 4+ years of industry experience designing, building, and supporting backend systems in production.
• Solid engineering fundamentals with a deep focus on software quality, code reviews, documentation, and automated testing.
• Strong programming and algorithmic skills, with proficiency in major programming languages such as Java, Go, C/C++, or Python.
• Cloud-native experience, including hands‑on experience or strong familiarity with configuring and deploying distributed systems and microservices using modern tools (e.g., Kubernetes, Helm, Docker).
• Operational awareness, with experience participating in on-call rotations and a strong desire to build reliable, production‑grade cloud services.
• Self‑starter mentality, with the ability to work effectively in a team and excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative mindset, featuring a strong sense of customer centricity, teamwork, and a drive to learn and grow alongside your peers.
• Educational background: BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent work experience.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Experience contributing to large‑scale, highly available, low‑latency, and high‑throughput data systems.
• Knowledge of control planes, data planes, and multi‑tenant resource management in public clouds (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Prior experience working with or extending the internal architecture of Apache Kafka® or Kafka Connect.

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.