Staff Software Engineer I - Cloud Compute Platform

Location:Remote, United StatesEmployment Type:FullTimeLocation Type:RemoteDepartmentEngineeringCompensation:$197.4K – $232K • Offers EquityAt Confluent, we are committed to providing competitive pay that is in line with industry standards. We analyze and carefully consider several factors when determining compensation, including work history, education, professional experience, and location. The actual pay may vary depending on your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location.OverviewWe're not just building better tech. We're rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn't sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.About the RoleAs a Software Engineer on the Compute Platform team, you will be a key technical leader in building and evolving our next-generation, multi-tenant, cloud-native compute substrate that powers all of Confluent Cloud's diverse workloads. Our platform orchestrates workloads across thousands of Kubernetes clusters globally across all cloud service providers, providing a unified abstraction layer for scheduling, lifecycle management, and operational excellence. You'll work on critical systems including:Multi-Cluster Workload Orchestration: Build the control plane that manages workload placement, lifecycle, and state across multiple Kubernetes clusters per regionPlatform APIs & Abstractions: Design and evolve APIs that provide clean abstractions for polyglot workload management across diverse compute needsCloud Platform Integration: Build and optimize deep integrations with the broader Confluent Cloud platform for seamless end-to-end operationsMulti-Tenancy & Security: Implement and enhance workload isolation, network policies, and secure execution environmentsObservability & Operations: Drive operational excellence through monitoring integration, automated health checks, and self-healing capabilitiesAs a senior technical leader, you think strategically and help drive end-to-end technical delivery from customer experience to scaling internal operations. You leverage your expertise in cloud-native distributed systems to take our platform to the next level while ensuring high availability, reliability, and security for our largest enterprise customers.What You Will DoDrive the overall technical charter for the Compute Platform, including multi-cluster orchestration, workload placement, and security architectureDesign and implement platform APIs and Kubernetes operators using Go to support evolving workload requirementsWork closely with product management and engineering leadership to build and drive the roadmap for Confluent's Compute Platform, enabling new business opportunities across Confluent.Deliver high-impact initiatives in areas such as workload scheduling, disruption management, network isolation, rolling update strategies, and cross-cluster resource managementLead technical design reviews and drive architectural decisions across organizational boundariesMentor and grow other engineers on the team through code reviews, pairing, and technical guidanceOwn operational aspects including availability, reliability, performance monitoring, emergency response, and disaster recovery for our global compute infrastructureWhat You Will Bring8+ years of experience delivering scalable software solutionsProven track record of leading the delivery of large-scale, highly available, low-latency systemsDeep expertise in Kubernetes including controller development, operator patterns, and multi-cluster architecturesStrong proficiency in Go with experience building production-grade distributed systemsExperience with multi-tenant platform architectures and security isolation patternsFamiliarity with gRPC, Protobuf, and API design for internal platform servicesExperience with observability tools and operational excellence practicesExperience with multi-cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) and cloud-provider integrationsTrack record of providing technical leadership and mentorshipTrack record of working collaboratively across teams including product management, SRE, and other engineering teamsA smart, humble, and empathetic attitude with a strong sense of teamworkDrive and excitement about the challenges of a fast-paced, innovative software environmentReady to build what's next? Let's get in motion.Come As You AreBelonging isn't a perk here. It's the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what's possible.We're proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.Privacy StatementConfluent is an IBM subsidiary which has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated into the IBM organization. By proceeding with this application, you understand that Confluent will share your personal information with other IBM affiliates involved in your recruitment process, wherever these are located. 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