Kafka Administrator (Local to Jersey City, NJ OR Dallas, TX)

Job Title: Kafka Administrator (Apache Kafka / Confluent Kafka)
Location: Jersey City, NJ OR Dallas, TX
Duration: 12+ Months
Interview Mode: In-Person Interview Required
Candidate Preference: Local Candidates Only (Jersey City, NJ or Dallas, TX)

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Kafka Administrator with strong expertise in Apache Kafka, Confluent Kafka, Linux Administration, Cluster Management, Security, Performance Tuning, and Automation. The ideal candidate will be responsible for managing enterprise Kafka environments, ensuring high availability, scalability, security, and operational excellence across mission-critical messaging platforms.

Required Experience

• 8+ years of Infrastructure, Middleware, or Platform Administration experience.
• Strong hands-on experience administering Apache Kafka and/or Confluent Kafka clusters.
• Experience supporting large-scale production environments.
• Expertise in Linux systems administration and distributed systems.

Must-Have Technical Skills

<>Kafka Administration

• Apache Kafka
• Confluent Kafka
• Kafka Cluster Administration
• Kafka Broker Management
• Kafka Connect
• Schema Registry
• ZooKeeper
• KRaft Architecture
• Topic Management
• Partition Management
• Replication Configuration
• Retention Policy Management

<>Kafka Operations & Performance

• Cluster Health Monitoring
• Consumer Lag Analysis
• Producer Performance Monitoring
• Throughput Optimization
• Performance Tuning
• Capacity Planning
• Kafka Troubleshooting
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

<>Security & Access Management

• SSL/TLS Encryption
• SASL Authentication
• Kerberos Authentication
• Access Control Lists (ACLs)
• Kafka Security Hardening
• Secure Messaging Architecture

<>Monitoring & Observability

• Prometheus
• Grafana
• JMX Monitoring
• Alerting & Dashboard Management
• Infrastructure Monitoring

<>Linux & Scripting

• Linux System Administration
• Shell Scripting
• Bash
• Python
• Java (Preferred)

<>Automation & DevOps

• Terraform
• Ansible
• Puppet
• Infrastructure Automation
• Configuration Management

<>Containerization & Cloud Platforms

• Docker
• Kubernetes
• OpenShift
• Containerized Kafka Deployments

Key Responsibilities

<>Kafka Cluster Management

• Install, configure, upgrade, and maintain Kafka clusters.
• Manage Kafka brokers, ZooKeeper/KRaft, Kafka Connect, and Schema Registry.
• Ensure cluster stability, scalability, and high availability.
• Implement and maintain Kafka best practices.

<>Performance & Capacity Management

• Monitor cluster performance and resource utilization.
• Analyze consumer lag and producer latency.
• Optimize throughput, partitioning, and replication strategies.
• Perform capacity planning and infrastructure scaling activities.

<>Topic & Data Management

• Configure and manage Kafka topics and partitions.
• Define replication factors and retention policies.
• Support application onboarding and messaging architecture requirements.
• Ensure data consistency and reliability.

<>Security Administration

• Implement Kafka security controls and access management.
• Configure SSL/TLS encryption and authentication mechanisms.
• Manage ACLs and user access controls.
• Ensure compliance with security and governance standards.

<>Incident Management & Support

• Provide Level 3 (L3) support for Kafka-related issues.
• Troubleshoot broker, producer, and consumer problems.
• Perform root cause analysis and implement preventive measures.
• Support production incidents and critical escalations.

<>Disaster Recovery & High Availability

• Design and maintain replication strategies.
• Support multi-region disaster recovery implementations.
• Ensure business continuity and fault tolerance.
• Maintain backup and recovery procedures.

<>Automation & Platform Engineering

• Develop automation scripts for operational tasks.
• Automate provisioning, monitoring, and maintenance activities.
• Improve operational efficiency through infrastructure automation.
• Support containerized Kafka deployments.

<>Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with developers, architects, and platform teams.
• Assist with data pipeline design and optimization.
• Support application onboarding and integration activities.
• Provide technical guidance on Kafka best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Confluent Kafka Certification.
• Experience supporting financial services or enterprise-scale environments.
• Exposure to cloud-native Kafka platforms.
• Experience with event-driven architectures and streaming platforms.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.

Required Soft Skills

• Strong Problem-Solving Skills
• Analytical Thinking
• Communication Skills
• Incident Management
• Team Collaboration
• Documentation Skills
• Stakeholder Management