We are seeking a Lead Kafka Engineer to join our platform support team.
The selected candidate will be tasked with installation, monitoring, troubleshooting, and maintenance of the Kafka platform to ensure peak performance and security. They will also develop new features, automation, and integrations. Additionally, the Kafka Platform team supports PagerDuty and Uptrends SaaS platforms, including their automation.
The remote option applies only to the Candidates who will be working from any location in Ukraine.

#LI-DNI

Responsibilities

• Oversee the installation and provisioning of new Kafka clusters and supporting components
• Conduct regular monitoring of the health and performance of the Kafka platform and its data pipelines
• Resolve issues involving data pipelines, network complications, and resources in cloud or container environments
• Tune the performance of Kafka platform components
• Streamline costs and optimize performance of Kafka clusters
• Carry out upgrades to the Kafka platform including planning, testing, and execution
• Secure the Kafka platform by managing access control lists and implementing encryption
• Implement regular backup and disaster recovery processes
• Administer the capacity of the Kafka platform by projecting future growth and scalability
• Record procedures, configurations, and resolutions for issues
• Work in collaboration with Confluent Support on persistent issues
• Sustain IaC and CM automations/pipelines for platform management
• Improve onboarding automation scripts
• Facilitate Kafka self-service automations for topic, RBAC, schema, and connectors management
• Assist application teams with Kafka setup and onboarding
• Provide support for team inquiries on Slack and handle complex ticket escalations
• Integrate new vendor features following their product roadmap
• Enhance automation scripts and processes to reduce self-service tickets

• Demonstrated expertise in deploying and sustaining the Confluent Platform
• Relevant certifications, like Confluent Certified Developer or Administrator for Apache Kafka
• Skilled in automating processes and managing automated scripts
• Knowledge of network configurations and collaboration with diverse teams
• Expertise in HELM, Kubernetes/Containers, and Docker
• Experience with Cloud GCP in terms of compute, networking, storage, and IAM
• Proficiency in Python/Shell scripting for automation tasks
• Strong problem-solving abilities
• Proficient in English, with a minimum of B2+ communication skills

• Acquaintance with Cloud AWS including compute, networking, storage, and IAM
• Experience in CI/CD
• Knowledge of Jenkins, including pipelines and groovy
• Experience in Linux administration
• Knowledge of PagerDuty and Terraform
• Familiarity with Uptrends services

• Work on a flexible schedule remotely or from any of our comfortable offices or coworking spaces in Ukraine
• Receive the necessary equipment to perform your work tasks
• Change projects and technology stacks within EPAM
• Gain experience in various business domains (Insurance, E-commerce, Healthcare, Finance, Travelling, Media, Artificial Intelligence, and more)
• Consider relocation options in over 30 countries worldwide
• Participate in volunteer, charity programs and communities (both technical and interest-based)
• You can plan your individual career path together with your manager
• Receive regular feedback from colleagues
• Improve your English for free with certified teachers (Speaking Clubs, client interview preparation courses, etc.)
• Get the opportunity to undergo free training and certification in AWS, GCP, or Azure Clouds
• Use the internal E-learn training program (18,200+ specialized training and mentoring programs)
• Access corporate accounts on LinkedIn Learning, Get Abstract and other partner resources
• Study at EPAM Solution Architecture School with the instructors who are practicing architects
• Develop as a leader, join Delivery Management, Resource Management, Leadership Essentials school and more
• Participate in internal communities (500+ meetups, technical discussions, brainstorming sessions, online events and conferences annually)
• Vacation and sick leave (including a sick leave without a medical certificate)
• A wide range of Voluntary Medical Insurance programs providing both medical treatment and various preventive options (including sports activities)
• Medical insurance for family members at corporate rates
• Company support during significant life events (childbirth or adoption, marriage, etc.)
• Support for psychological comfort: discounts on services from mental health specialists or coaches, thematic training
• E-kids program - a free programming language training program for EPAMers' children