Senior Manager, Engineering - Confluent Platform

We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.

One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.

About the Role:

The charter of the Confluent Platform (CP) team has been continuously evolving and expanding since its inception. As a leader, you will be responsible for building, running, and scaling teams that contribute to this ever-growing charter.

Our goal is to create teams that bring fresh ideas, innovative technologies, and deep expertise to support self-managed CP customer deployments. This role requires the ability to define and drive open-ended strategy—not simply execute on a fixed list of requirements. You will be expected to explore, experiment, and deliver solutions that maximize customer value.

Building such high-impact engineering teams means balancing operational and engineering excellence with shaping the roadmap, vision, and long-term direction. You will collaborate across the organization to align on priorities, advance the roadmap, and turn vision into reality.

Charter:
In today’s world, businesses need real-time streaming systems to react and make decisions at scale. Building for such use cases requires a robust data streaming platform. Confluent leads the industry in data-in-motion with Confluent Platform as its flagship product. Our goal is to make this platform—and our expertise—accessible to everyone, whether in private clouds or the open-source tech community.

Strategic Priorities

1. Deliver the full Confluent experience on private cloud.

2. Strengthen customer value by providing a robust product roadmap, timely security fixes, and reliable support—helping them maximize existing private data center investments. (Note: CP contributed ~50% of Confluent’s revenue in 2023.)

3. Enable customers to benefit from Confluent Cloud innovations alongside private cloud deployments through connected cloud features.

4. Build mindshare within the tech community through Confluent Platform.

5. Enhance the Kafka and Confluent developer experience.

What You Will Do:

• ‬‭You‬‭ will‬‭ work‬‭ with‬‭ a‬‭ team‬‭ of‬‭ engineers‬‭ and‬‭ architects and manager's‬‭ to‬‭ help‬‭ evolve‬‭ the‬‭ Confluent‬ Platform.‬

• Work‬‭ closely‬‭ with‬‭ product‬‭ management,‬‭ engineering‬‭ leadership,‬‭ and‬‭ other‬‭ key stakeholders‬‭ across‬‭ various‬‭ teams‬‭ in‬‭ Confluent‬‭ to‬‭ build‬‭ and‬‭ drive‬‭ the‬‭ overall‬‭ roadmap.‬ Influence the overall domain health and operational hygiene for the Confluent Platform‬

• We‬‭ are‬‭ looking‬‭ for‬‭ you‬‭ to‬‭ be‬‭ a‬‭ leader‬‭ for‬‭ driving our Hybrid strategy as the first goal.‬

• Hybrid‬‭ requires‬‭ close‬‭ collaboration‬‭ across‬‭ a‬‭ minimum‬‭ of‬‭ 6-7‬‭ teams‬‭ across‬‭ the‬‭ globe‬‭ and‬ timezones.‬‭ This‬‭ is‬‭ a‬‭ multi-year‬‭ initiative‬‭ to‬‭ drive‬‭ CP‬‭ revenue‬‭ with‬‭ new‬‭ acquisitions‬‭ and renewal.‬

• Hybrid‬‭ is‬‭ one‬‭ of‬‭ the‬‭ key‬‭ initiatives‬‭ that‬‭ the‬‭ Confluent‬‭ leadership‬‭ team‬‭ is‬‭fired-up‬‭ about‬ and actively driving across the organization.‬

What You Will Bring:

• 14+ years of experience in software development and engineering.

• 5+ years of engineering management experience, leading high-performing, productive teams.

• Proven ability to hire and maintain a high talent bar, motivate engineers, provide coaching/mentorship, and manage performance effectively.

• Strong track record of delivering features on time with consistency—adept at working with urgency, building iteratively, prioritizing effectively, and anticipating future technical needs.

• Skilled at influencing teams, peers, and leadership through effective communication and collaboration; committed to building and sustaining a culture of teamwork and excellence.

• Excellent communication skills, self-driven, and highly effective in cross-functional environments.

• Strong fundamentals in distributed systems design and operations; hands-on experience with Kafka or similar high-scale event streaming platforms.

• Solid background working with large-scale private and public cloud environments.

Ready to build what's next? Let’s get in motion.

Come As You Are

Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.