Senior Staff Software Engineer - Confluent Kafka Storage (Remote)

<strong>Introduction<br><br></strong>At IBM Software, we transform client challenges into solutions. Building the world’s leading AI-powered, cloud-native products that shape the future of business and society. Our legacy of innovation creates endless opportunities for IBMers to learn, grow, and make an impact on a global scale. Working in Software means joining a team fueled by curiosity and collaboration. You’ll work with diverse technologies, partners, and industries to design, develop, and deliver solutions that power digital transformation. With a culture that values innovation, growth, and continuous learning, IBM Software places you at the heart of IBM’s product and technology landscape. Here, you’ll have the tools and opportunities to advance your career while creating software that changes the world.<br><br><strong>Your Role And Responsibilities<br><br></strong>Our team is composed of passionate distributed systems and infrastructure engineers dedicated to solving some of the hardest problems in cloud computing. 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. Our mission is to deliver bulletproof data durability, high throughput, and ultra-low latency while maximizing multi-tenant efficiency and minimizing the total cost of ownership for enterprise data streams.<br><br>As a Senior Staff Software Engineer on the Kora Storage team, you will serve as a key technical authority and architectural anchor. In this role, you will tackle deep systems-level challenges across state management, hardware optimization, disk/network I/O, and fault tolerance. Beyond architecting and implementing critical storage components, you will set technical standards, partner with leaders across the broader organization to shape our core roadmap, and mentor senior and junior engineers to foster a culture of technical excellence.<br><br>What You Will Do<br><br><ul><li> Storage Engine Development: Design and develop a highly available, performant, reliable, durable, scalable, and multi-tenant storage engine for Kora.</li><li> 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.</li><li> 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.</li><li> Mentoring: Mentor engineers across the team and help shape the long-term technical direction.<br><br></li></ul><strong>Preferred Education<br><br></strong>Master's Degree<br><br><strong>Required Technical And Professional Expertise<br><br></strong><ul><li> 10+ years of relevant backend and/or infrastructure development experience.</li><li> BS, MS, or PhD in computer science or a related field, or equivalent work experience</li><li> Expertise in Java, Scala, C/C++, Go or other statically typed languages</li><li> Proven experience designing and building large-scale, distributed storage systems.</li><li> Deep knowledge of distributed systems concepts, including fault tolerance, consistency, and scalability.</li><li> Solid understanding at a systems level (disk, network, operating systems, etc).</li><li> Strong leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to mentor and guide engineers to success.<br><br></li></ul><strong>Preferred Technical And Professional Experience<br><br></strong><ul><li> A strong background in distributed storage systems or databases</li><li> Expertise in building and operating modern cloud-based infrastructure and multi-tenant environments</li><li> Experience developing SaaS services on public cloud providers (AWS, Azure or GCP)</li><li> Familiarity with or has experience contributing to the following open-source technologies: Apache Kafka, Apache Iceberg, Apache Flink</li><li> Interest in evangelism (giving talks at tech conferences, writing blog posts evangelizing your work)</li></ul>

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Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...

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