Senior Software Engineer II

Confluent; Annapolis (MD); Remote; USD 197,400 - 232,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company is seeking a Senior Software Engineer II to lead the design of critical backend systems for its data streaming platform. The role requires deep proficiency in programming languages and experience with distributed systems. Candidates should have 5+ years of industry experience and excellent collaboration skills. This position offers a competitive compensation package and the flexibility of remote work.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of industry experience building backend systems.
• Deep proficiency in backend programming languages and system design.
• Hands-on experience with distributed systems and performance tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement complex backend services.
• Make architectural decisions balancing performance and reliability.
• Mentor and support other engineers.

Skills

Backend programming languages (Java, Go, C/C++, Python)

Distributed systems

Public cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure)

Database and storage systems (SQL and NoSQL)

Technical leadership

Education

BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, engineering, or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Location:

Seattle, Washington

Employment Type:

FullTime

Location Type:

Remote

Department

Engineering

Compensation:

$197.4K – $232K • Offers Equity

At Confluent, we are committed to providing competitive pay and benefits that are in line with industry standards. We analyze and carefully consider several factors when determining compensation, including work history, education, professional experience, and location. The actual pay may vary depending on your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Confluent offers a wide range of employee benefits. To learn more about our benefits click here (https://confluentbenefits.com/) .

Overview

We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.

One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.

About the Role

Senior Software Engineers II at Confluent take ownership of critical backend systems 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.

This is a general L4 backend role used across multiple teams. Depending on your background, you may focus on areas like core platform services, governance and metadata, observability and telemetry, security and access, or customer-facing application services. We’ll align you to a team during the process based on your experience, interests, and business needs.

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

• Own and lead the design and implementation of complex backend services and systems in a cloud-native, microservices-based environment.
• Make architecture and technical decisions that balance reliability, scalability, performance, and operability, and clearly communicate the tradeoffs.
• Drive projects end to end: from requirements and design through implementation, rollout, and ongoing operation in production.
• Improve service reliability and operations by defining SLOs/SLAs, strengthening observability, and participating in on-call as needed.
• Collaborate across teams to define APIs, integration points, and data models that keep the platform coherent and evolvable.
• Identify and drive platform and productivity improvements (tooling, automation, process) that raise the bar for the broader engineering organization.
• Mentor and support other engineers through code reviews, design reviews, and technical guidance, helping grow the team’s capabilities.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, inclusive collaboration, and high technical standards.

What You Will Bring

• 5+ years of industry experience building, scaling, and operating backend systems in production.
• Deep proficiency in at least one major backend programming language (for example, Java, Go, C/C++, or Python) and strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and system design.
• Hands-on experience with distributed systems (such as event-driven architectures, high-throughput services, or large-scale data pipelines) and an understanding of consistency, fault tolerance, and performance tradeoffs.
• Strong experience running services in a public cloud (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including containers and orchestration (for example, Docker, Kubernetes) and modern deployment practices.
• Comfortable working with databases and storage systems (SQL and/or NoSQL), including data modeling and performance optimization for scale.
• A track record of technical leadership: driving projects, influencing architecture, and coordinating work across multiple engineers or teams.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to align stakeholders, explain complex ideas clearly, and drive decisions.
• Experience with observability and operational excellence (metrics, logging, tracing, incident response, and postmortems).
• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Ready to build what's next? Let’s get in motion.

Come As You Are

Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.

Privacy Statement

Confluent is an IBM subsidiary which has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated into the IBM organization. By proceeding with this application, you understand that Confluent will share your personal information with other IBM affiliates involved in your recruitment process, wherever these are located. More Information on how IBM protects your personal information, including the safeguards in case of cross-border data transfer, are available here (http://ibm.com/careers/us-en/privacy-policy/) .