Confluent - Senior Software Engineer II

IBM; Armonk (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software is transforming client challenges into AI-powered, cloud-native solutions. You will design, develop, and operate infrastructure that powers the Confluent-based data streaming ecosystem, collaborating across global teams.

The role emphasizes Go/Java/Python coding, Kubernetes production experience, and strong automation with GitOps, Terraform, and CI/CD in a distributed environment, with on-call responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills in Go, Java, or Python and understanding of large-scale systems.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes in production and cloud-native ecosystems (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Proficiency in automation, GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, and observability practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve internal infrastructure services written in Go, often as Kubernetes operators, powering the core platform.
• Own systems that are secure, scalable, observable, and reliable using GitOps, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, and Linux/networking fundamentals.
• Collaborate with engineers to enable fast, safe, autonomous deployment of services via shared platform tooling and best practices.
• Take shared responsibility for full lifecycle of infrastructure: availability, performance, monitoring, incident response, and capacity planning.
• Work on systems at scale across thousands of instances and multiple regions with focus on smooth, fast operations.
• Influence architecture and operational strategy behind critical infrastructure supporting cloud services; participate in on-call rotation.

Skills

Go

Java

Python

Linux internals

Education

Master's Degree

Tools

Kubernetes

GitOps

Terraform

CI/CD

Observability

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.

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

With Confluent, organizations can harness the full power of continuously flowing data to innovate and win in the modern digital world. We have a purpose that drives us to do better every day - we're creating an entirely new category within data infrastructure - data streaming. This technology will allow every organization to create experiences and use the power of data in ways that profoundly impact the way we all live. This impact is our purpose and drives us to do better every day. One Confluent. One team. One Data Streaming Platform. Data Connects Us. The Confluent Cloud Platform based on Apache Kafka is the leading Cloud Native Platform as a Service for streaming data infrastructure, but this is just the beginning. We are building a PaaS, enabling customers around the globe to deliver streaming applications.

What You Will Do

• Design, build, and evolve internal infrastructure services written in Go, often as Kubernetes operators, that power the core platform behind Confluent Cloud
• Own the systems that make cloud infrastructure secure, scalable, observable, and reliable, using GitOps, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, and a strong foundation in Linux, networking, and public cloud
• Collaborate with engineers across Confluent to enable fast, safe, and autonomous deployment of services through shared platform tooling and best practices
• Take shared responsibility for the full lifecycle of our infrastructure: availability, performance, monitoring, incident response, and capacity planning
• Work on systems at scale, across tens of thousands of instances and multiple regions, with a focus on smooth, fast, and safe operations
• Influence the architecture and operational strategy behind the critical infrastructure that supports all of Confluent’s cloud services Participate in a 8-hour, follow-the-sun on-call rotation.

Preferred Education

Master's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Strong programming skills with the ability to read, debug, and evolve existing code (Go, Java, or Python) Deep understanding of systems internals (filesystems, memory, networking, kernel behavior) and large-scale system performance
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes in production and modern cloud-native ecosystems, including containers and public cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Expertise in automation and reliability practices—GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, observability—and experience diagnosing and improving complex systems
• Strong collaboration, communication, and ownership mindset, with the ability to operate independently in a distributed team

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Strong programming skills with the ability to read, debug, and evolve existing code (Go, Java, or Python) Deep understanding of systems internals (filesystems, memory, networking, kernel behavior) and large-scale system performance
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes in production and modern cloud-native ecosystems, including containers and public cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Expertise in automation and reliability practices—GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, observability—and experience diagnosing and improving complex systems