Software Engineer - Confluent Stream Processing & Analystics

**Introduction** 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. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. We put information in motion, streaming in near real time so organizations can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them. **Your role and responsibilities** * Strong coding fundamentals: Proficient in at least one programming language with solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and time/space complexity. * Problem-solving ability: Can independently solve medium-complexity coding problems, debug issues, and break down ambiguous requirements into actionable tasks. * Clean engineering practices: Writes readable, maintainable code, uses Git effectively, and follows code review and testing best practices. * Backend/API and database basics: Understands REST APIs, HTTP fundamentals, SQL, and basic system design concepts such as client-server architecture and caching. * Ownership and learning mindset: Takes initiative, seeks feedback, learns quickly, and can deliver assigned tasks with minimal supervision. * Strong communication and collaboration: Communicates progress, asks thoughtful questions when blocked, and works effectively within an agile team. **Required technical and professional expertise** Hands-on software development experience (new grads welcome) Solid fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, concurrency, networking, and operating systems Ability to write clean, maintainable, well-tested code in at least one modern language (Java, Go, or similar) Curiosity about distributed systems and how large-scale services like Kafka are designed and operated A self-starter mindset — comfortable asking questions, seeking feedback, and iterating based on code review Strong communication skills and willingness to collaborate closely with a small team **Preferred technical and professional experience** Coursework or projects involving Apache Kafka, distributed systems, or cloud infrastructure Exposure to Kubernetes, Docker, or cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) Contributions to open-source projects. - Interest in observability or platform engineering IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.