Staff Software Engineer I - Kora Storage

We’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 Role:

We are a team of passionate engineers who love solving complex distributed systems and infrastructure problems. We are building Kora from the ground up to be a true managed service for clients who demand high levels of availability and performance at the lowest cost of ownership.

What You Will Do:

• Storage Engine Development: Design and develop a highly available, performant, reliable, durable, scalable, and multi-tenant storage engine for Kora.

• Engineering Leadership: Set the standard for engineering excellence. Be instrumental in driving the technical solutions end-to-end, working closely with the team and key stakeholders to design, architect, and develop top-notch solutions.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with product management, design, and other engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of storage features and infrastructure with the broader organization. Act as a trusted advisor for both internal and cross-functional teams, providing guidance on complex technical problems and contributing to high-level decision-making processes.

• Mentoring: Mentor junior engineers and help shape the direction of the team.

What You Will Bring:

• 9+ years of relevant backend and/or infrastructure development experience.

• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science or a related field, or equivalent work experience

• Expertise in Java, Scala, C/C++, Go or other statically typed languages

• Proven experience designing and building large-scale, distributed storage systems.

• Deep knowledge of distributed systems concepts, including fault tolerance, consistency, and scalability.

• Solid understanding at a systems level (disk, network, operating systems, etc).

• Strong leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to mentor and guide engineers to success.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence and guide stakeholders at all levels

What Gives You an Edge:

• A strong background in distributed storage systems or databases

• Expertise in building and operating modern cloud-based infrastructure and multi-tenant environments

• Experience developing SaaS services on public cloud providers (AWS, Azure or GCP)

• Familiarity with or has experience contributing to the following open-source technologies: Apache Kafka, Apache Iceberg, Apache Flink

• Interest in evangelism (giving talks at tech conferences, writing blog posts evangelizing your work)

Ready to build what's next? Let’s get in motion.

Come As You Are

Belonging 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.