Senior Open Source Kafka Engineer - Upstream Leader

NetApp; United States; Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 265,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Retirement Plan

Paid Time Off

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

NetApp is seeking a Senior Open Source Software Engineer to lead upstream Apache Kafka initiatives and reviews. You will influence design, governance, and release processes, while mentoring engineers toward committer status.

This global team collaborates with product and field teams to drive enterprise outcomes. The role emphasizes deep Kafka expertise, Java proficiency, and strong written communication, with a hybrid work model and opportunities across locations.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 12 years of applicable professional software engineering experience is required.
• Current Apache Kafka committer status with a sustained upstream track record across patches, reviews, KIPs, and community standing.
• Expert Java engineering capability in performance-sensitive, concurrent, and production-grade distributed systems.
• Deep mastery of Apache Kafka internals in broker storage, metadata, and related domains.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical work through the Apache governance model.
• Excellent written communication for asynchronous, global collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end upstream initiatives in Apache Kafka, from design to release.
• Provide binding committer reviews on upstream patches and contributions.
• Contribute to Kafka release management and validation processes.
• Translate enterprise needs into upstream proposals and designs.
• Shape community direction and influence project decisions on architecture and roadmap.
• Mentor engineers toward committer standing and improve contribution quality.
• Improve upstream infrastructure, CI reliability, testing, and tooling.

Skills

Apache Kafka

Java

Distributed systems

Open source governance

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or technical related field

Job description

NetApp is seeking a Senior Open Source Software Engineer to lead upstream Apache Kafka initiatives and reviews. You will influence design, governance, and release processes, while mentoring engineers toward committer status.

This global team collaborates with product and field teams to drive enterprise outcomes. The role emphasizes deep Kafka expertise, Java proficiency, and strong written communication, with a hybrid work model and opportunities across locations.