Staff Software Engineer I - Confluent

The charter of the Confluent Platform (CP) team has continuously expanded since its inception, and as a Staff Software Engineer I, you will set technical direction and drive major advancements across this ever-expanding charter. This role operates at the intersection of platform architecture, large-scale distributed systems, and customer-critical operations, with scope and impact spanning the entire Confluent Platform organization.

A core pillar of our strategy is Unified Stream Manager hybrid-first offerings. We are building platform capabilities that deliver a consistent, enterprise-grade management, observability, and security experience across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid deployments. You will help architect and deliver these foundational USM capabilitiesenabling customers to seamlessly operate, monitor, and secure Confluent Platform deployments across multi-cloud and multi-geography environments. Your work will directly influence how enterprises run Kafka at scale in increasingly complex regulatory and operational landscapes.

Beyond USM, you will technically lead initiatives to:

Raise the quality bar of platform deliverables through strong design, architecture, and engineering rigor.

Evolve and modernize release engineering to improve reliability, velocity, and operational confidence.

Bring the latest innovations from the Kubernetes ecosystem into CFK, translating ecosystem progress into tangible customer value.

Advance cluster management, observability, and security for very large CP deployments, ensuring readiness for global regulatory and data-protection requirements.

Improve operational excellence, on-call effectiveness, and SLA adherence by building systems that are diagnosable, resilient, and automation-first.

You will be expected to own open-ended problem spaces, explore new ideas, prototype solutions, and turn the most promising approaches into production systems that materially improve customer outcomes. As one of the leading technologists across the Confluent Platform organization, you will shape platform architecture, review designs and code, influence technical direction across teams, and help define the long-term vision and roadmap for the platform.

What You Will Do

Technically lead the evolution of the Confluent Platform, with deep ownership of USM, hybrid-first management, and platform-wide operational capabilities.

Partner closely with product management, engineering leadership, and cross-org stakeholders (including Confluent Cloud) to define and execute the CP roadmap.

Act as a strong external technical voice for Confluent Platform across the company.

Champion domain health, operational hygiene, and platform reliability; raise the bar through design and code reviews.

Lead architecture and design of large, complex systems spanning distributed systems, Kubernetes, security, and observability.

Mentor and grow senior engineers and technical leads, providing hands-on guidance and career mentorship.

Represent and strengthen engineering leadership in India, setting standards for execution, communication, and engineering excellence.

Build and evolve processes that enable teams to operate at scale without sacrificing quality or velocity.