We are looking for an experienced Senior Platform Engineer – Kafka & Cloud to take ownership of the evolution, reliability and technical health of critical technology and domain assets.
This is an exciting opportunity for a hands-on engineering professional with deep Apache Kafka, Confluent Platform, DevOps, automation, Linux and cloud expertise. You will play a key role in building, evolving and supporting scalable, secure and highly observable streaming platforms while providing technical leadership across the wider engineering community.
As a Senior Platform Engineer, you will actively own and be accountable for the overall evolution and health of multiple technology or domain assets. You will work across engineering teams to drive platform reliability, automation, security and continuous improvement.
- Own and drive the technical evolution, health, stability and performance of multiple technology and domain assets.
- Administer, maintain, optimise and troubleshoot Apache Kafka environments, preferably using Confluent Platform and/or Confluent Cloud.
- Design and implement scalable, resilient and secure Kafka platform solutions.
- Drive DevOps and automation initiatives to improve platform efficiency, repeatability and operational excellence.
- Develop and maintain automation using Python and/or Bash, together with Infrastructure as Code and configuration management tools.
- Build and enhance CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes.
- Manage and troubleshoot complex Linux-based environments.
- Support cloud-based platform engineering, with a strong preference for Microsoft Azure experience.
- Implement and maintain robust Kafka security controls, including TLS/SSL, SASL authentication and ACLs.
- Build and enhance platform monitoring, alerting and observability capabilities using tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Splunk and/or Azure Monitor.
- Identify risks, bottlenecks and opportunities for platform improvement and proactively drive solutions.
- Ensure technology assets remain healthy, secure, performant and aligned with evolving business and technical requirements.
- Provide technical leadership and play an active role within associated Centres of Excellence (COEs).
- Influence engineering standards, best practices, platform roadmaps and technical decision-making.
- Mentor and guide other engineers while promoting a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence.
RequirementsEssential Skills & Experience
- 6+ years' experience in Systems Engineering, Platform Engineering or a similar infrastructure-focused engineering role.
- 4+ years of hands-on Apache Kafka administration experience.
- Experience with Confluent Platform and/or Confluent Cloud is highly preferred.
- Strong DevOps, scripting and automation capabilities.
- Hands-on experience with Python and/or Bash.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and modern engineering practices.
- Strong Infrastructure as Code and automation experience using Terraform and/or Ansible.
- Solid Linux administration and troubleshooting skills.
- Cloud experience, preferably within Microsoft Azure.
- Strong understanding of Kafka security, including:
- TLS/SSL
- SASL authentication
- ACLs and access control
- TLS/SSL
- Experience designing and implementing observability and monitoring solutions using technologies such as:
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- ELK Stack
- Splunk
- Azure Monitor
- Prometheus
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities within complex distributed environments.
You are a technically strong, hands-on engineer who enjoys taking ownership of complex platforms from end to end. You are comfortable operating at both a deep technical level and a strategic platform level, identifying opportunities to improve reliability, automation, security and scalability.
You can influence technical direction, collaborate across multiple teams and take accountability for the long-term health and evolution of critical technology assets. You are also passionate about sharing knowledge and contributing to engineering communities and Centres of Excellence.
Kafka | Confluent Platform | Confluent Cloud | Linux | Azure | Python | Bash | Terraform | Ansible | CI/CD | TLS/SSL | SASL | ACLs | Prometheus | Grafana | ELK | Splunk | Azure Monitor
Skills Required
- 6+ years experience in Systems Engineering, Platform Engineering or similar infrastructure-focused role
- 4+ years hands-on Apache Kafka administration experience
- Experience with Confluent Platform and/or Confluent Cloud
- Strong DevOps, scripting and automation capabilities
- Hands-on experience with Python and/or Bash
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and modern engineering practices
- Infrastructure as Code and automation experience using Terraform and/or Ansible
- Solid Linux administration and troubleshooting skills
- Cloud experience, preferably Microsoft Azure
- Strong understanding of Kafka security: TLS/SSL, SASL authentication, ACLs
- Experience designing and implementing observability and monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Splunk, Azure Monitor)
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities within complex distributed environments
- Provide technical leadership, influence standards and mentor other engineers
What We Do
Sabenza IT is a niche recruitment company specializing in Information Technology, SAP, Finance, and Engineering roles, with over 23 years of experience.
