Kafka Platform Engineer
american electric powerColumbus, OH
Kafka Platform Engineer
Overview:
In this role you will engineer and operate the enterprise Kafka platform that underpins our data movement as the backbone of the business. You will work with cross-functional teams to ensure platform stability, scalability and data safety, enabling producer/consumer teams to move data reliably. You’ll tackle real-time streaming challenges, cloud/on-prem integrations, and platform modernization to support enterprise data initiatives. This position offers meaningful impact by shaping our data infrastructure at scale.
Responsibilities:
Deploy and manage Kafka connectors (CDC, JDBC, IBM MQ, Redshift, etc.) in Confluent Kafka environments Containerize and deploy microservices and connectors on OpenShift using Docker, YAML, and Kustomize Implement CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and Argo CD for automated deployments Perform basic Kafka administration tasks such as topic creation, partitioning, replication, and monitoring Collaborate with architects and business teams to deliver scalable integration solutions Monitor Kafka clusters and connector health using Confluent Control Center, Prometheus, Grafana, Dynatrace, Splunk and OpenShift-native monitoring Build and maintain custom connectors for specialized data sources and sinks Support production deployments and troubleshoot issues across Kafka pipelines and OpenShift environments Clear understanding of cloud managed services including AWS, Azure to deploy Confluent connectors for data integrations Support real-time data streaming between on-prem systems and cloud/SaaS platforms Work closely with business teams, architects, and product owners to understand integration requirements Coordinate with co-sourced/offshore teams for development and deployment tasks Conduct code reviews, quality checks, and ensure adherence to standards Ensure reliability and scalability of Kafka pipelines by applying 12-Factor principles and microservices architecture Collaborate with architects and platform teams to align Kafka solutions with enterprise integration patterns and cloud strategies Automate deployment, monitoring, and operational tasks wherever possible Own integration of deliverables from design through production deployment Act as Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Kafka-based integrations and cluster administration
Key requirements:
Strong hands‑on Kafka experience in production environments Understanding of distributed systems, messaging semantics, and fault tolerance Experience with Kafka Deployments in Kubernetes Platform (OpenShift, Docker etc.) Experience with Multi-Region High Availability on-premises deployments Experience with building producer/consumer applications using Kafka connectors Experience building custom microservices in Python/Java Experience with Kafka security (TLS, ACLs, RBAC) Ability to troubleshoot complex, cross‑team data flow issues Collaborative mindset Strong problem-solving abilities Effective cross-team communication Kafka administration and Connect Confluent Platform OpenShift / Kubernetes
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Level
Lead L6
Location
Columbus, OH
Occupation
Computer Systems Engineers/Architects
Industry
Computer Systems Design Services
Posted
today