Technology/Domain Specialist - Kafka

Indsafri; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Indsafri is seeking an experienced Technology/Domain Specialist - Kafka to own the evolution and long-term health of our mission-critical streaming infrastructure. You will lead architecture, deployment, and optimization of our Kafka ecosystem, serving as a key leader within the COE to drive best practices and ensure scalability, security, and performance.

You will manage and maintain Kafka environments (Confluent Platform/Cloud), develop CI/CD pipelines and IaC with Terraform and Ansible, and

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional experience in Systems or Platform Engineering.
• 4+ years of hands-on Kafka administration with Confluent Platform and/or Confluent Cloud.
• Cloud experience with a preference for Microsoft Azure.
• Proficient in Python and Bash scripting; infrastructure automation with Terraform/Ansible.
• Advanced Linux system administration, including troubleshooting and performance tuning.
• Strong understanding of Kafka security mechanisms (encryption, authentication, authorization).
• Hands-on observability experience (Prometheus/Grafana, ELK, Splunk, or Azure Monitor).

Responsibilities

• Own the lifecycle and architectural evolution of Kafka-based assets and related streaming platforms.
• Lead the COE as a technical leader, setting standards for platform reliability.
• Manage, configure, and maintain robust Kafka environments (Confluent Platform/Cloud) with high availability and performance.
• Lead CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code initiatives using Terraform and Ansible.
• Design and implement monitoring and alerting for health metrics using Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, or Azure Monitor.
• Enforce security protocols including TLS/SSL, SASL authentication, and ACL management.

Skills

Kafka

Azure

Python

Bash

Linux

Security

Monitoring

Kubernetes

Prometheus

Grafana

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Technology/Domain Specialist - Kafka to take full ownership and accountability for the evolution and long-term health of our mission-critical data streaming infrastructure. In this role, you will lead the architecture, deployment, and optimization of our Kafka ecosystem. You will serve as a key leader within our Center of Excellence (COE), driving best practices, mentoring team members, and ensuring our platform remains scalable, secure, and performant.

Key Responsibilities:

• Asset Evolution: Own the lifecycle and architectural evolution of Kafka-based assets and related streaming platforms.
• Leadership: Act as a technical leader within the COE, influencing strategic decisions and setting standards for platform reliability.
• Operational Excellence: Manage, configure, and maintain robust Kafka environments (Confluent Platform/Cloud), ensuring high availability and performance.
• Automation: Lead the development of CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code initiatives using Terraform and Ansible to streamline deployment processes.
• Observability: Design and implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions to track health metrics using tools like Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, or Azure Monitor.
• Security & Compliance: Enforce enterprise-grade security protocols, including TLS/SSL, SASL authentication, and complex ACL management.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Experience: 6+ years of professional experience in Systems or Platform Engineering.
• Kafka Expertise: 4+ years of hands‑on experience in Kafka administration, with specific focus on Confluent Platform and/or Confluent Cloud.
• Cloud Platforms: Proven experience working in cloud environments, with a strong preference for Microsoft Azure.
• Automation/Scripting: Proficient in scripting (Python and Bash) and infrastructure automation tools (Terraform/Ansible).
• System Knowledge: Advanced Linux system administration, including deep‑dive troubleshooting and performance tuning.
• Security: Strong understanding of Kafka security mechanisms, including encryption, authentication, and authorization.
• Monitoring: Hands‑on experience building and maintaining observability stacks (Prometheus/Grafana, ELK, Splunk, or Azure Monitor).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Kubernetes (K8s) or container orchestration environments.
• Previous involvement in leading or establishing a technical Center of Excellence (COE).
• Experience migrating or managing Kafka clusters in hybrid‑cloud configurations.