Confluent -Senior Software Engineer - Stream Processing & Analytics

International Business Machines Corporation; Poughkeepsie (AR); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM is seeking a Senior Software Engineer II to own critical backend systems for Stream Governance. You will design, implement, and operate cloud-native, multi-tenant services across regions and clouds, including data contracts and policy components.

You will mentor engineers, influence architecture decisions, and drive high-impact work in a fast-paced environment. The role emphasizes technical leadership, scalable backend development, and collaboration with cross-functional teams to deliver a

Qualifications

• 8+ years building backend systems in production.
• Proficient in Java, Go, C/C++, or Python with strong data structures and system design.
• Experience with distributed systems, event-driven architectures, high-throughput services and large-scale data pipelines.
• Strong experience in public clouds (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerized workloads.
• Expertise in cloud-native technologies including networking and security; on-call rotation experience.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and mentoring abilities.
• BS, MS, or PhD in CS/Engineering or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and architect the cloud-native, multi-tenant Stream Governance platform.
• Lead end-to-end design and implementation of complex backend services.
• Drive projects from requirements through rollout and production operation.
• Make architecture decisions balancing reliability, scalability, and performance.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical guidance through reviews.
• Evaluate and adopt modern technologies and best practices.
• Maintain a 99.99% SLA across 100+ regions in multiple clouds.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define and execute product roadmap.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.

Skills

Backend architectures

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms

Containerization

Programming languages

Leadership

System design

Communication

On-call experience

Education

Master's Degree

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

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

About the Role:

As a Senior Software Engineer II at Confluent, you will take ownership of critical backend systems in Stream Governance products that underpin our data streaming platform. You’ll lead the design and delivery of large-scale, distributed services that must be secure, highly available, and easy to operate across regions and clouds. The Stream Governance product portfolio is crucial to achieving Confluent’s mission to put event streaming at the heart of every organization. Our mission is to provide a robust, cloud-native platform that ensures data quality and integrity by standardizing structure and enforcing intelligent rules across every stream. You will be responsible for delivering critical functionalities like Confluent Schema Registry, Data Contracts, and Policies. In this role, you will collaborate closely with the team and key stakeholders to design, architect, and develop cloud-native, multi-tenant services for Stream Governance. You will be responsible for guiding the vision, providing technical leadership, mentoring, and enabling a high-performing engineering team to tackle complex distributed data challenges at scale. You’ll act as a technical leader: setting direction for projects, making architecture decisions, mentoring engineers, and partnering with cross-functional stakeholders to ship high-impact work.

What You Will Do

• Develop and architect the cloud-native Stream Governance platform, a multi-tenant, highly available, and scalable service for Kafka and real-time data.
• Own and lead the end-to-end design and implementation of complex backend services within a cloud-native, microservices-based environment.
• Drive projects from requirements and design through implementation, rollout, and ongoing operation in production.
• Make architecture and technical decisions that thoughtfully balance reliability, scalability, performance, and operability.
• Solve complex technical challenges with high quality, provide specialized technical guidance to the team, and mentor and support engineers through code reviews and design reviews.
• Evaluate and enhance the efficiency of the platform’s technology stack, ensuring the adoption of modern, industry-leading technologies and best practices.
• Take responsibility for developing, managing, and maintaining a mission-critical service with a 99.99% SLA operating across 100+ AWS, GCP, and Azure regions.
• Partner across engineering teams and key stakeholders to define and execute the roadmap for delivering a world-class data streaming platform.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, inclusive collaboration, and high technical standards.

Preferred Education

Master's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• 8+ years of industry experience designing, building, scaling, and operating backend systems in production.
• Deep proficiency in at least one major backend programming language (e.g., Java, Go, C/C++, or Python), with strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and system design.
• Hands-on experience with distributed systems, including event-driven architectures, high-throughput services, and large-scale data pipelines, with a strong understanding of consistency, fault tolerance, and performance tradeoffs.
• Strong experience operating production services in public cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including containerized workloads such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Expertise in cloud-native technologies, including networking and security, and experience participating in an on‑call rotation.
• Proven experience leading and mentoring technical teams.
• Demonstrated track record of technical leadership, including driving projects, influencing architecture decisions, and coordinating work across multiple engineers and teams.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to align stakeholders, clearly articulate complex technical concepts, and drive informed decisions.
• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Experience building or operating mission-critical, multi-tenant, or multi-region services with stringent availability, reliability, and latency requirements.
• Familiarity with data streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, or similar distributed data processing systems.
• Demonstrated ability to drive impact beyond your immediate team through cross-functional initiatives, technical strategy, or organization-wide engineering improvements.
• Contributions to open-source projects, technical publications, blogs, conference presentations, or other forums that showcase technical expertise and thought leadership.