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About the role
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
#ZR #INDGEN
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