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PlanIT Group, LLC · 4 months ago

Open Source Software (OSS) Kafka (SME) Architect

Eagan, MN

Contract

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

13+ years exp

PlanIT Group, LLC is seeking an Open Source Software (OSS) Kafka (SME) Architect to assist in designing and developing sophisticated IT systems that align with corporate business vision and strategy. The role involves collaborating on OSS initiatives, ensuring architecture projects meet security standards, and staying updated on industry trends to recommend new technologies.

ConsultingInformation TechnologyManagement Consulting

Growth Opportunities

Responsibilities

Experience and knowledge of OSS architectures and OSS governance including implementation of OSS architectures with capability to collaborate with internal and external entities on OSS initiatives and issues

In-depth knowledge and extensive experience in architecting, developing and contributing open source software to publicly available open source projects in compliance with the OSS licenses

Leverages the best practices of continuous foresight, innovation and futurism to continuously test business models and strategies, and determine how to adjust either or both to become resilient and future-fit

Ensures that architecture projects meet security standards and are effectively integrated with current applications on-time

The position requires staying on top of the latest industry trends, championing new technologies for the system architecture as well as developing cost-effective and actionable recommendations

Works on advanced, complex, strategic business and technology projects requiring state of the art technical or industry knowledge

Works autonomously

Provide support to the leadership role of the work group through knowledge in the area of business, industry and technology specialization

Experience delivering presentations to senior-level executives and technical audiences

Chosen resource must demonstrate these capabilities through actual work experience not merely training:

Hands-on experience designing and implementing kafka event streaming capabilities in applications and infrastructure across hybrid multi-cloud environments

Experience producing IT technical artifacts, with an emphasis on kafka event streams, including design documents, architecture diagrams, architecture assessments, white papers, test plans, requirements mapping, and implementation plans

In-depth knowledge of design principles and inner workings of kafka implementations and applicable use cases for migrating applications from legacy style to modern style with the use of Event Streams and Async APIs

Demonstrable knowledge of Apache Kafka, Confluent Platform, Confluent Cloud

Demonstrable knowledge of Apache Strimzi, Confluent for Kubernetes

Demonstrable knowledge of Cloud services with Kafka API compatibility (e.g. Azure Event Hub, Amazon MSK)

Demonstrable knowledge of Confluent Schema Registry and serialization using JSON and AVRO schemas

Demonstrable knowledge of kafka replication options including Mirror Maker, Confluent Cluster Linking and Schema Linking

Demonstrable knowledge of Confluent Identity Mgmt and RBAC, integrated/federated with enterprise IDP & role management

Demonstrable knowledge of Kafka Client APIs (Producer, Consumer, Streams)

Demonstrable knowledge of Kafka Connect and Connectors (e.g. JDBC, Cassandra, Google BigQuery, Websphere MQ, etc)

Demonstrable knowledge of sizing and capacity planning for kafka clusters

Demonstrable knowledge of kafka topic partitioning strategies including partition key design strategies

Chosen resource should exhibit through actual work experience not merely training:

Desirable: integrating kafka event streams with Agentic AI workflows

Using design patterns for building scalable and maintainable applications/solutions

Clearly document code, models, and technical solutions

Proficiency in Generative AI and prompt engineering

Continuous learning and adaptability in a very large IT organization

Communicating complex technical concepts to both technical and executive stakeholders

Troubleshooting software and technical implementations in large-scale enterprise ecosystems

Understanding of concepts like CI/CD, containerization, and deployment strategies for kafka components in large-scale production environments

Querying and managing data in both SQL and NoSQL databases

Proficiency creating technical diagrams with products like Microsoft Visio or Draw.io

Proficiency creating technical design and architecture documents in Microsoft Word

Proficiency creating business and technical presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint

Proficiency creating data representations, charts and reports in tools such as Microsoft's Excel worksheets and Power BI

Tasks - might include (neither exhaustive nor restrictive):

Analysis support to integrate new kafka cluster and event stream requirements into established large-scale, production enterprise architectures

Conduct Design and Architecture assessments and provide written recommendations for integrating kafka event streams within an application domain or enterprise event brokering

Troubleshoot production kafka event streams and software integration issues as top tier internal support, including review of performance issues and proposing resolutions

Conduct research and provide written reviews of kafka ecosystem best practices and innovative strategies for hybrid multi-cloud high availability

Conduct proof of concept activities and build prototypes for kafka technology stack components in sandbox environments to assess new capabilities

Define and implement standards and patterns for kafka ecosystem life cycle, test-driven protection schemes, and automated implementation strategies

Devise strategies and roadmaps for enterprise expansion of kafka ecosystem capabilities, integrations, and governance

Strategy and compliance reviews and recommendations for enterprise kafka ecosystem elements which may include the following: architecture frameworks, databases, network, web and application architecture resources, backup and recovery, high availability, disaster recovery, patch management and analytics

Qualification

OSS architectureKafka event streamingApache KafkaCloud servicesConfluent PlatformKafka Client APIsKafka ConnectCI/CD conceptsTroubleshootingTechnical documentationPresentation skillsContinuous learningCommunication skills

Required

In-depth knowledge and extensive experience in architecting, developing and contributing open source software to publicly available open source projects in compliance with the OSS licenses

Requires a bachelor's degree at a minimum in a related or specialized skills+E88 for this labor category (OSS) and demonstrated OSS architecture experience

Ensures that architecture projects meet security standards and are effectively integrated with current applications on-time

Staying on top of the latest industry trends, championing new technologies for the system architecture as well as developing cost-effective and actionable recommendations