Lead Kafka Developer

Job at a Glance

• Title: Lead Kafka Developer
• Location: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Dallas
• Contract: W2 only, 9+ month contract with potential for extension or conversion to full time with either the client or CEI
• Pay: $60 /hour + optional medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match

Overview

We are seeking a Lead Kafka Developer to design, build, and operate scalable, high-throughput event streaming platforms using Apache Kafka. This role provides technical leadership, sets best practices, and drives the implementation of reliable, secure, and performant data streaming solutions across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of Kafka-based streaming architectures and data pipelines
• Own Kafka cluster setup, configuration, tuning, monitoring, and upgrades
• Establish standards for topic design, schema management, security, and reliability
• Collaborate with application, platform, and data teams to integrate event-driven solutions
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and drive root-cause analysis
• Mentor developers and provide technical guidance and code reviews

Required Skills

• Strong hands-on experience with Apache Kafka (producers, consumers, streams, connectors)
• Experience operating Kafka in production environments
• Proficiency in Java and/or Scala (Python a plus)
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, messaging patterns, and event-driven architecture
• Experience with schema registries, monitoring, and performance tuning

Required Education

Bachelors or ample experience 

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Kafka Streams, ksqlDB, or Kafka Connect
• Cloud-based Kafka platforms and containerized deployments
• Familiarity with CI/CD, observability, and security best practices

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