Confluent - Senior Software Engineer II - Cloud Platform

IBM Computing; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software is seeking an experienced infrastructure engineer to design and evolve core platform services. You will own scalable, observable systems built with Go and Kubernetes, collaborating across teams to enable safe, rapid deployments.

You’ll drive reliability across large-scale cloud infrastructure and participate in a follow-the-sun on-call for critical services. Ideal candidates bring strong programming in Go/Java/Python, deep systems knowledge, and hands-on Kubernetes experience in

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills with Go, Java, or Python and deep understanding of systems internals.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes in production and cloud-native ecosystems on AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Expertise in automation and reliability practices—GitOps, Terraform, CI/CD, observability.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and ownership mindset for distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve internal infrastructure services written in Go, often as Kubernetes operators.
• Own systems that are secure, scalable, observable, and reliable using GitOps, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, and Linux fundamentals.
• Collaborate with engineers across Confluent to enable fast, safe deployments through platform tooling and best practices.
• Take shared responsibility for availability, performance, monitoring, incident response, and capacity planning.
• Work on systems at scale across tens of thousands of instances and multiple regions.
• Influence architecture and operational strategy behind critical infrastructure supporting cloud services.
• Participate in an 8-hour, follow-the-sun on-call rotation.

Skills

Go

Java

Python

Kubernetes

Public cloud

GitOps

Terraform

CI/CD

Linux

Networking

Observability

Tools

Prometheus

Grafana

AWS

GCP

Azure

Linux tooling

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. 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 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

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.