Confluent - Senior Software Engineer II - Cloud Platform

IBM; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software seeks a skilled infrastructure engineer to design, build, and operate cloud-native systems at scale. You will own Go-based services and Kubernetes operators, ensuring secure, observable platforms across multiple regions. Collaboration with distributed teams and a strong automation mindset are essential.

Experience with GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, and public cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) is required, along with a foundation in Linux networking and performance tuning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Strong programming skills in Go, Python, or Java.
• Experience with Kubernetes in production and cloud-native ecosystems.
• Automation and reliability practices—GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, observability.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve internal infrastructure services written in Go, often as Kubernetes operators.
• Own systems to be secure, scalable, observable, and reliable using GitOps, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, and Linux networking.
• Collaborate with engineers to enable fast, safe deployment of services through shared tooling and best practices.
• Lead lifecycle responsibilities: availability, performance, monitoring, incident response, capacity planning.
• Work at scale across many instances and regions with focus on smooth, fast operations.
• Influence architecture and operational strategy for Confluent cloud services.

Skills

Go

Python

Java

Linux

Networking

GitOps

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform

CI/CD

AWS

GCP

Azure

Linux

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

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.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

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

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Software infuses core business operations with intelligence—from machine learning to generative AI—to help make organizations more responsive, productive, and resilient. IBM Software helps clients put AI into action now to create real value with trust, speed, and confidence across digital labor, IT automation, application modernization, security, and sustainability. Critical to this is the ability to make use of all data, because AI is only as good as the data that fuels it. In most organizations data is spread across multiple clouds, on premises, in private datacenters, and at the edge. IBM’s AI and data platform scales and accelerates the impact of AI with trusted data, and provides leading capabilities to train, tune and deploy AI across business. IBM’s hybrid cloud platform is one of the most comprehensive and consistent approach to development, security, and operations across hybrid environments—a flexible foundation for leveraging data,