Senior Software Engineer - Confluent Cloud Infrastructure & Platform

About the Role

At IBM Software, we transform client needs into innovative solutions by creating leading AI-powered, cloud-native products that influence business and societal futures. Joining our software team means engaging with diverse technologies and partners to design, develop, and deliver solutions that facilitate digital transformation. Our culture embraces innovation, continuous learning, and growth, providing ample opportunity to enhance your career and contribute to impactful software.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain AI-assisted developer workflows that improve processes such as code review, implementation, testing, documentation, and continuous integration guardrails.
• Manage projects end-to-end, from problem identification and solution design to production deployment, impact measurement, and iteration for refinement.
• Create backend services and orchestration layers integrating large language models (LLMs) with developer tools including GitHub, Jira, Slack, CI systems, and internal platforms.
• Convert complex engineering challenges into practical products to enhance developer efficiency and output quality.
• Collaborate with platform teams to embed AI workflows into standard runtimes, managed services, and deployment procedures.
• Ensure robust safety, governance, and observability through policies, access control, and monitoring.
• Use data-driven metrics such as adoption rates, reliability, and cost-effectiveness to guide product enhancements over anecdotal insights.
• Uphold high engineering standards with clean, thoroughly tested code and careful design reviews.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master's degree preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in building and managing backend production systems.
• Proficiency in Golang, especially in designing developer paved paths.
• Experience with internal developer platforms or workflow automation tools.
• Hands-on knowledge of applying LLM techniques for software engineering workflows, beyond simple prompting.
• Familiarity with cloud-native infrastructure technologies like containers and Kubernetes.
• Strong judgment regarding software quality, testing methodologies, and operational guardrails.
• A product-focused mindset emphasizing user adoption, efficiency gains, and quality improvements.
• Effective in cross-functional collaboration.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Background in developing AI-assisted workflows for code review, test generation, incident handling, or developer onboarding.
• Proficient in at least one major programming language such as Java, Go, or Python.
• Experience integrating developer tools including source control, continuous integration, issue trackers, chat platforms, and internal portals.
• Knowledge of platform fundamentals such as service runtimes, progressive delivery, and configuration management systems.
• Expertise in distributed systems, developer productivity, or infrastructure-intensive environments.
• Experience designing opinionated paved paths and governance frameworks.