Senior Staff Software Engineer, Kafka

Business Area:

Seniority Level:

Job Description: 

At Cloudera, we empower people to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. With as much data under management as the hyperscalers, we're the preferred data partner for the top companies in almost every industry.  Powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community, Cloudera advances digital transformation for the world’s largest enterprises.

At Cloudera, our Data Services Pillar is the heart of data innovation. We don’t just work with technology; we build it. Our mission is to empower data practitioners by creating seamless, enterprise-grade experiences for data engineering, warehousing, streaming, operational databases, and AI.

We are looking for passionate Software Engineers to join our Hungary-based team, focusing on the development of Cloudera's Streams Messaging products, including Apache Kafka and related streaming components (Schema Registry, Cruise Control, Replication Manager and several other components). Kafka is a general purpose distributed messaging/streaming technology designed for low latency, high throughput, massive scalability and high reliability. Kafka is the fundamental streaming technology in our platform, frequently used together with Apache Flink, Spark and NiFi to ingest, process and analyze large scale message streams. As a Software Engineer, you will collaborate with engineers and stakeholders across Hungary, the United States, and other global locations.

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer you will:

• Provide technical leadership for the development of Apache Kafka and the Cloudera products built on this technology.

• Design, implement, and release new features and enhancements for the Cloudera Streaming Analytics product suite, supporting both on-premise and cloud deployments..

• Contribute to a cross-functional software development team, covering all aspects of software product delivery to ensure high-quality, secure, and maintainable software.

• Informally manage technical projects, priorities, and resources, and plan work for other team members to ensure effective project delivery.

• Collaborate with partner engineering teams to coordinate delivery of projects that span across multiple teams. 

• Collaborate with product management and engineering leadership to build and execute a roadmap for high-quality products that effectively meet customer needs.

• Provide support to our field team and customers, facilitating product adoption and smooth implementation of use cases.

We’re excited about you if you have: 

• BS/MS in Computer Science or a related field, and/or 8+ years of relevant work experience.

• Experience in designing scalable, robust distributed software systems and products.

• Strong Java skills and proficiency across the Java ecosystem.

• Strong understanding of software design and architecture principles.

• Experience with delivery pipeline tools, CI/CD solutions, and automated testing.

• Experience with containerization orchestration technologies: Kubernetes, Docker.

• Strong track record of complex software development projects, featuring technical leadership and cross-team collaboration.

• Self-driven and motivated, with a strong sense of ownership and craftsmanship.

• Strong written and verbal English and communication skills.

You may also have:

• Experience with Apache Kafka

• Experience with Cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP)

• Experience with Python and/or Javascript

Why this role matters:

This is your opportunity to build cloud-native solutions that are deployable anywhere whether in massive clusters on any cloud provider or in private data centers. You’ll work with cutting-edge technologies like Trino, Spark, Airflow, and advanced AI inferencing systems to shape the future of analytics. Your code will directly influence how data engineers, analysts, and developers worldwide find value in their data.

We believe in the power of open source. You’ll collaborate with project committers, contributing upstream to keep technologies like Apache Hive and Impala evolving. You’ll harden these engines for rock-solid security, optimize them for peak performance, and make them effortlessly run across all environments.  Join us and help build the trusted, cloud-native platform that powers insights for the most data-intensive companies on the planet.

What you can expect from us:

• Generous PTO Policy 

• Support work life balance with Unplugged Days

• Flexible WFH Policy 

• Mental & Physical Wellness programs 

• Phone and Internet Reimbursement program 

• Access to Continued Career Development 

• Comprehensive Benefits and Competitive Packages 

• Paid Volunteer Time

• Employee Resource Groups

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