**Introduction** * A career in IBM Consulting is rooted by long-term relationships and close collaboration with clients across the globe. You'll work with visionaries across multiple industries to improve the hybrid cloud and AI journey for the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Your ability to accelerate impact and make meaningful change for your clients is enabled by our strategic partner ecosystem and our robust technology platforms across the IBM portfolio **Your role and responsibilities** We are looking for an experienced Kafka Administrator to join our team and manage enterprise-grade Kafka environments. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Confluent Platform, Kubernetes/OpenShift, and Kafka security configurations. This role requires working in US regular hours (8 PM to 5 AM Philippines time) to support global operations and ensure high availability, scalability, and security of Kafka clusters. Responsibilities: * Administer and maintain Kafka clusters for high availability and performance. * Deploy and manage Confluent Platform using CFK (Confluent for Kubernetes) on OpenShift/Kubernetes. * Implement and manage Kafka security using SASL_SSL, RBAC, ACLs, and role bindings. * Configure and support ClusterLink and Replicators for cross-cluster communication. * Set up and manage Active-Passive clusters using CFK. * Integrate and manage Confluent Connectors such as IBM MQ, JDBC, S3, and Snowflake. * Work with CDC connectors for real-time data replication. * Collaborate with development teams on Python/Spring Boot Kafka applications. * Utilize GitHub, GitHub Actions, and ArgoCD for CI/CD and automation. * Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Kafka performance and reliability. **Required technical and professional expertise** * Should be amenable to work IST * At least 5 years of experience as Kafka Administrator * At least 2 years of experience using CFK (Confluent for Kubernetes) build Confluent Platform on OpenShift or Kubernetes * Kafka security using SASL_SSL and knowledge RBAC ( rolebiddings, acl etc) * Working experience on ClusterLink and Replicators * Experience in configuring Active-Passive clusters using CFK * Working experience on Confluent Connector like IBM MQ, Confluent JDBC, S3, snowflake * Working experience on CDC connectors * At least two years of working experience in Kubernetes/ OpenShift * Exposure to Python /Springboot Kafka applications * Working experience using Github, github actions, and argoCD etc **Preferred technical and professional experience** * Confluent Certified Administrator or equivalent certification. * Experience with performance tuning and capacity planning for Kafka clusters. * Familiarity with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Confluent Control Center). * Strong scripting skills for automation. * Knowledge of hybrid cloud deployments and multi-region Kafka strategies. * Ability to mentor and guide junior team members. 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.