Lead Kafka Engineer for Real-Time Data Pipelines

s Sa; Woodlawn (MD); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The Social Security Administration is seeking a Kafka Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable Kafka-based data pipelines supporting real-time analytics and AI/ML workloads.

Work with cross-functional teams to ensure reliable, high-performance Kafka clusters and data architectures. Strong Java and Python skills, plus experience leading large IT projects, are essential for this role.

Qualifications

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable Kafka-based applications and data pipelines.
• Collaborate with development, operations, and infrastructure teams to deliver reliable Kafka solutions.
• Ensure availability, reliability, and performance of Kafka clusters and related systems.
• Mentor junior developers and stay current with Kafka ecosystem advancements.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain robust Kafka-based applications and data pipelines.
• Troubleshoot and resolve Kafka issues to minimize downtime and optimize performance.
• Define requirements with architects and stakeholders and deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Document design decisions, configurations, and best practices for team knowledge sharing.

Skills

Apache Kafka

Java programming

Python

Kafka APIs

Schema registry

Monitoring tools

Tools

Prometheus

Grafana

Hackolade

Job description

The Social Security Administration is seeking a Kafka Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable Kafka-based data pipelines supporting real-time analytics and AI/ML workloads.

Work with cross-functional teams to ensure reliable, high-performance Kafka clusters and data architectures. Strong Java and Python skills, plus experience leading large IT projects, are essential for this role.