Tier 2 Application Support - Kafka Admin

Position Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Kafka/Middleware Administrator with strong expertise in Kafka Administration, Azure Cloud, Event Hub, IBM MQ, Solace, IBM Sterling B2B Integrator, Linux, AKS, and Monitoring Tools. The ideal candidate will be responsible for managing, maintaining, monitoring, and supporting enterprise messaging and integration platforms while ensuring high availability, performance, security, and operational excellence.

The role requires hands-on experience in troubleshooting production environments, client engagement, middleware infrastructure management, and cloud-native technologies.

Key Responsibilities:

Kafka Administration

• Install, configure, administer, and maintain Apache Kafka clusters across development, QA, and production environments.
• Monitor Kafka broker health, topic configurations, consumer groups, partitions, and replication factors.
• Perform capacity planning, performance tuning, and cluster optimization.
• Manage Kafka security, including SSL, SASL, ACLs, and authentication mechanisms.
• Troubleshoot producer, consumer, broker, and zookeeper-related issues.
• Implement backup, disaster recovery, and high-availability strategies.

Azure & Event Hub Administration

• Manage and support Azure Event Hub environments and related cloud services.
• Configure Event Hubs, consumer groups, namespaces, and throughput units.
• Monitor Azure resources and optimize cloud infrastructure performance and costs.
• Implement Azure security best practices including managed identities, RBAC, and Key Vault integration.
• Troubleshoot cloud connectivity and messaging issues.

IBM MQ Administration

• Install, configure, and administer IBM MQ queue managers across multiple environments.
• Manage queues, channels, listeners, clusters, and security configurations.
• Handle queue depth monitoring, message flow troubleshooting, and performance optimization.
• Implement HA, DR, and backup solutions for MQ infrastructure.
• Support MQ upgrades, migrations, and patch management activities.

Solace Administration

• Deploy, administer, and maintain Solace PubSub+ appliances/software brokers.
• Configure queues, topics, VPNs, bridges, and access controls.
• Monitor broker health and messaging performance.
• Troubleshoot message delivery, routing, and connectivity issues.
• Perform upgrades and platform maintenance activities.

IBM Sterling B2B Integrator Administration

• Install, configure, and support IBM Sterling B2B Integrator environments.
• Manage trading partner setups, communication adapters, and protocols.
• Support EDI and B2B transaction processing.
• Monitor business process execution and resolve integration failures.
• Implement upgrades, patches, and security enhancements.

AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service)

• Manage and administer AKS clusters in production environments.
• Deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot containerized workloads.
• Configure ingress controllers, networking, storage, and scaling policies.
• Support CI/CD deployments and Kubernetes upgrades.
• Implement security best practices for containerized applications.

Linux Administration

• Manage Linux servers supporting middleware environments.
• Perform server provisioning, patching, troubleshooting, and performance tuning.
• Monitor system resources, storage, networking, and processes.
• Automate routine operational tasks using shell scripting.
• Ensure compliance with security and infrastructure standards.

Monitoring & Observability

• Configure and manage enterprise monitoring tools such as:
• Prometheus
• Grafana
• Dynatrace
• Splunk
• AppDynamics
• Azure Monitor
• ELK Stack
• Create dashboards, alerts, and proactive monitoring solutions.
• Analyze logs, metrics, and system events to identify and resolve issues.
• Drive platform reliability and incident reduction initiatives.

Client Support & Incident Management

• Provide L2/L3 support for enterprise messaging and integration platforms.
• Participate in on-call support and production incident management.
• Engage directly with business users, application teams, and external clients.
• Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) for critical incidents.
• Ensure SLA compliance and timely issue resolution.
• Prepare operational documentation and knowledge articles.

Required Technical Skills

Messaging & Middleware

• Apache Kafka Administration
• Azure Event Hub
• IBM MQ
• Solace PubSub+
• IBM Sterling B2B Integrator

Cloud & Containerization

• Microsoft Azure
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Azure Networking
• Azure Monitor

Operating Systems

• Linux (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu)

Monitoring & Logging

• Grafana
• Prometheus
• Splunk
• Dynatrace
• AppDynamics
• ELK Stack
• Azure Monitor

Scripting & Automation

• Shell Scripting
• Python (preferred)
• PowerShell (good to have)

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience supporting Kafka Administration & IBM Sterling Integration.
• Strong knowledge of messaging technologies and event-driven architectures.
• Experience working in cloud and containerized environments.
• Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Experience working in ITIL-based support environments.