Senior Software Engineer II

Confluent is redefining how data moves and what can be achieved with it through their innovative data streaming platform. The Senior Software Engineer II will take ownership of critical backend systems, leading the design and delivery of large-scale, distributed services that are secure and highly available. This role involves technical leadership, mentoring engineers, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive impactful projects.

Responsibilities:

• 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

Requirements:

• 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