Senior Backend Engineer -Kafka Platform

Klarna; Stockholms kommun; On-site; SEK 1,000,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Klarna is seeking a senior data streaming engineer to develop, operate, and maintain our shared Kafka clusters and related data streaming infrastructure in Stockholm. You will design core streaming systems using Kafka, AWS, Iceberg, ECS, and S3, and drive architectural decisions across teams.

Your work involves turning broad requirements into concrete data platform solutions, balancing security with developer productivity, and leading cross-team technical initiatives to scale Klarna's data

Qualifications

• Experience building and running streaming platforms on AWS.
• Hands-on with Python and distributed systems; IaC using Terraform and Ansible.
• Familiar with AWS IAM, SSO, and account setups for data platforms.
• Production operations mindset: monitoring, incident reviews, and iteration.

Responsibilities

• Develop, operate and maintain Klarna's shared Kafka clusters (~150 nodes).
• Lead design and implementation of core data streaming systems using Kafka, AWS, Iceberg, ECS, and S3.
• Drive architectural decisions with clarity on Klarna's data landscape and dependencies.
• Derive technical requirements from the organization and deliver projects with minimal oversight.
• Lead technical work in cross-team initiatives.

Skills

Python

Distributed systems

Terraform

Ansible

AWS

EC2

S3

IAM

SSO

Monitoring

Tools

Kafka

Iceberg

ECS

S3

Job description

What You'll Do

• Develop, operate and maintain Klarna's shared Kafka clusters — ~150 nodes, 60 MiB/s ingestion, 120 MiB/s output, 125 TiB stored.
• Lead the design and implementation of core data streaming systems using Kafka, AWS, Iceberg, ECS, and S3.
• Drive architectural decisions with a clear view of Klarna's data landscape, downstream consumers, and cross-team dependencies.
• Derive technical requirements from the broader organization and deliver projects and integrations with minimal oversight.
• Lead technical work in cross-team initiatives.

What You Are

• Experienced building and running streaming platforms on AWS, including EC2 clusters and S3.
• Hands‑on with Python, distributed systems, and infrastructure‑as‑code using Terraform and Ansible.
• Familiar with SSO, IAM, and AWS account setups for data platforms — able to balance security with ease of use for developers.
• Comfortable operating systems in production and improving them through monitoring, incident learnings, and iteration.
• Focused on building solutions that last and scale, not just solving the immediate problem.