Remote Lead Software Engineer — Kafka & Data Pipelines

First Citizens Bank; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

First Citizens Bank is pursuing a Lead Software Engineer to architect and implement Kafka-based event-driven integrations on the Enterprise Architecture team. This remote role prioritizes North Carolina, Arizona and Texas markets while remaining open nationwide.

The candidate will design and maintain Confluent Kafka clusters, implement security and governance, and mentor teams while aligning projects with long-term business objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree with 6+ years in software development, or an equivalent combination.
• Experience designing and maintaining Confluent Kafka clusters in multi-data center and cloud.
• Hands-on DevOps automation and best practices for Kafka topics and schema evolution.
• Proficiency with Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams and Schema Registry.
• Java, Python, or Go proficiency.
• Experience modernizing monolithic applications and integrating with legacy systems.
• Cloud-native architecture experience.
• DevOps tools, CI/CD pipelines, and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift).

Responsibilities

• Design, configure and maintain Confluent Kafka clusters in cloud and multi-data center setups.
• Implement authorization, authentication and schema governance.
• Build real-time data pipelines using Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams and KSQL/FLinkSQL.
• Monitor system metrics and address performance issues to ensure high availability.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring and consultation to teams.
• Advise on strategic alignment of projects with business goals and tech direction.

Skills

Java

Python

Go

Education

Bachelor's Degree

High School Diploma or GED

Tools

Confluent Kafka

Kafka Connect

Kafka Streams

Schema Registry

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

First Citizens Bank is pursuing a Lead Software Engineer to architect and implement Kafka-based event-driven integrations on the Enterprise Architecture team. This remote role prioritizes North Carolina, Arizona and Texas markets while remaining open nationwide.

The candidate will design and maintain Confluent Kafka clusters, implement security and governance, and mentor teams while aligning projects with long-term business objectives.