Northern Trust
Financial Services
Sr.Lead,InfraCloud-Kafka
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Lead candidates.
“Sr. Lead, Infra Cloud - Kafka at Northern Trust. Skills: Kafka, Confluent Platform, Cloud, Automation. Lead design, implementation, optimization of Kafka platforms. Architect and manage hybrid Kafka solutions”
What You'll Achieve.
Drive platform standardization; Drive engineering maturity; Automate operational tasks; Reduce manual effort; Influence architecture decisions; Guide engineering teams; Lead Kafka platform initiatives; Build high-performing teams; Drive transformation initiatives; Adopt automation; Deliver measurable improvements; Establish Kafka as core platform
Industry & Context.
Root cause analysis; Diagnose system issues; Resolve system issues
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, 8–12+ years of experience in Middleware / Messaging systems, Apache Kafka / Confluent Kafka administration and engineering, Experience in enterprise-scale, production-critical environments, Proven leadership experience
Nice to Have
Confluent Cloud or managed Kafka services, Exposure to hybrid cloud Kafka architectures, Experience with Kafka Streams, KSQLDB, Experience building self-service or web-based Kafka platforms, Knowledge of DevOps practices, Experience with other messaging systems, Exposure to multi-region DR architecture, Experience working with cloud networking, Familiarity with data governance, Familiarity with data lineage, Familiarity with schema validation tools
What You'll Do.
optimization of Kafka platforms
Architect and manage hybrid Kafka solutions
Ensure high availability
Drive platform modernization
Implement cluster linking and data replication
Develop automation frameworks for Kafka
Implement no-touch / low-touch Kafka operations
Design and deliver self-service platforms for Kafka
Collaborate with application teams
Design event-driven architectures
Design real-time streaming solutions
Plan and execute Kafka platform upgrades
observability frameworks
Perform capacity planning
Perform performance tuning
Perform scaling of Kafka clusters
Enforce enterprise security standards
Enforce governance for Kafka platforms
Perform root cause analysis
Lead Kafka engineering teams
Mentor Kafka engineering teams
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Collaborate with application teams; Collaborate across cloud teams; Collaborate across networking teams; Collaborate across security teams; Collaborate across application teams
Communication Scope
Communicate effectively
Process & Methodology
CI/CD pipelines, GitOps
Full Job Description
**_About Northern Trust:_** Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. **Main Duties:** Northern Trust Enterprise Middleware Services is seeking a highly experienced Sr. Lead Confluent Kafka Platform Engineer to join the team on a full-time basis. This role will lead the strategy and execution of a modern Kafka platform, ensuring scalability, security, and high availability across hybrid environments. The individual will drive automation, enable self-service capabilities, and accelerate cloud adoption to simplify operations and improve onboarding efficiency. Working closely with engineering teams, this position will also play a key role in advancing real-time data streaming capabilities while strengthening platform reliability, governance, and overall engineering maturity. **Responsibilities** * Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of enterprise Kafka platforms across on-prem and cloud environments. * Architect and manage hybrid Kafka solutions integrating Confluent Platform and Confluent Cloud. * Ensure high availability, scalability, and resiliency through multi-region and multi-zone deployments. * Drive platform modernization including migration from on-prem Kafka to cloud-native streaming platforms. * Implement cluster linking and data replication strategies for hybrid and DR use cases. * Develop and maintain automation frameworks for Kafka provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management. * Implement no-touch / low-touch Kafka operations us
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