Cloud Kafka Architect & Confluent Cloud Expert

IBM; Rochester (MN); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software in the United States seeks a Cloud Subject Matter Expert to drive architecture decisions for Kafka and Confluent Cloud, leading analysis, design reviews, and problem resolution to ensure reliable data pipelines.

You will collaborate with platform, application and SRE teams, deliver hands‑on workshops, and promote secure, governed event‑driven architectures and customer self‑sufficiency.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree required.
• Experience leading architecture decisions for enterprise streaming platforms.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex distributed systems and service interactions.
• Experience coordinating across Development, Services, Field, Support, Engineering, platform and SRE teams.
• Ability to create and reuse technical documentation to enable customers and teams.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary technical authority and design advisor for Kafka and Confluent Cloud platforms.
• Lead analysis and troubleshooting of complex issues to minimize business impact.
• Design and review enterprise-grade event-driven architectures and production readiness.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver timely, effective solutions.
• Deliver hands‑on architecture reviews, technical workshops and enablement content.
• Support incident response and root cause analysis; contribute to reusable patterns and customer-informed improvements.

Skills

Technical leadership

Troubleshooting complex issues

Enterprise Kafka

Confluent Cloud

Event‑driven architectures

Cross‑functional collaboration

Documentation & enablement

Production readiness

Education

Master's Degree

Tools

Kafka

Confluent Cloud

Kafka Streams

Apache Flink

Schema Registry

Kafka Connect

Job description

IBM Software in the United States seeks a Cloud Subject Matter Expert to drive architecture decisions for Kafka and Confluent Cloud, leading analysis, design reviews, and problem resolution to ensure reliable data pipelines.

You will collaborate with platform, application and SRE teams, deliver hands‑on workshops, and promote secure, governed event‑driven architectures and customer self‑sufficiency.