Requirements:

Deep Expertise: BS, MS, or PhD in computer science or a related field, or equivalent work experience, with 12+ years of relevant experience in stream processing and distributed systems.
Architectural Acumen: Demonstrated strong fundamentals and extensive experience in the architecture, design, and development of large-scale distributed systems.
Cloud Native Leadership: Expert-level understanding of cloud engineering principles, including experience building and operating mission-critical systems across multiple public cloud environments.
Strategic Influence: A self-starter with proven ability to lead and influence technical direction within and across teams, driving complex initiatives to successful completion.
Polyglot Proficiency: Proficiency in Go, Java, or Scala, or Rust with a strong ability to contribute to and lead development in these languages.

Nice to Haves:

Specialized Distributed Systems Knowledge: A strong background in distributed storage systems, databases, or high-throughput messaging systems.
Cloud & Kubernetes Expertise: Extensive experience with public clouds (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and hands-on experience designing and operating Kubernetes operators for distributed applications.
Significant Open Source Leadership: Recognized contributions and leadership in open-source projects, particularly in the stream processing domain (especially Apache Flink), demonstrating a track record of driving significant community impact.
Experience with State Management: Deep expertise in the design, implementation, and optimization of large-scale, fault-tolerant state management systems.
Experience with implementing Key Value stores or LSM tree based systems: You have expertise in the internals of modern K/V stores or storage engines like SlateDB or RocksDB.

Architect and Drive Vision: Define, maintain, and execute the technical vision and roadmap for scheduling and deployment of Flink, including autoscaling and managing state, ensuring alignment with Confluent Cloud's strategic goals and customer needs.
Technical Leadership: Provide technical leadership and guidance to the team, setting high standards for design, development, and operational excellence of highly performant, scalable, reliable, and resilient distributed systems.
Complex Project Ownership: Independently drive the architecture, design, and execution of complex, cross-functional software projects from inception to production, with a strong focus on quality, reliability, and business impact.
Open Source Contributions & Strategy: Lead and significantly contribute to open-source software, especially Apache Flink and related stream processing technologies, influencing the community and driving business impact through strategic contributions.
Advanced Troubleshooting & Operational Excellence: Act as a subject matter expert for troubleshooting and improving operations for complex, large-scale technical stacks spanning all three major clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP), proactively identifying and addressing systemic issues.
Mentorship and Growth: Mentor and coach junior and mid-level engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and innovation within the team.

Belonging isn’t a perk, it’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives.
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