Middleware Consultant
Role: Middleware Engineer (IBM MQ & Kafka – Development & Support)
Overview
We are looking for a Middleware Engineer with strong expertise in IBM MQ and Apache Kafka to support and enhance enterprise messaging platforms. The role involves development, integration, production support, and performance optimization for real-time and asynchronous messaging systems.
Key Responsibilities
Messaging Platform Management
- Administer and support:
- IBM MQ (Queue Managers, Channels, Queues)
- Apache Kafka (Topics, Brokers, Partitions, Clusters)
- Configure and manage message routing, transformation, and integration flows
- Handle queue/topic setup, retention policies, and message persistence
Development & Integration
- Develop and maintain message producers/consumers using MQ and Kafka
- Build integration solutions using:
- Java / Spring Boot / Kafka Streams / MQ APIs
- Implement event-driven and asynchronous architectures
- Design and manage data streaming pipelines
Production Support
- Provide L2/L3 support for messaging platforms and integrations
- Monitor queue depth, lag, consumer health, and throughput
- Perform incident management, RCA, and problem resolution
- Ensure high availability, failover, and disaster recovery readiness
Performance & Optimization
- Optimize:
- Message throughput and latency
- Kafka partitioning and consumer groups
- MQ queue performance and channel configurations
- Conduct capacity planning and scaling strategies
Automation & DevOps
- Build automation scripts using:
- Shell / Python / Ansible
- Integrate messaging platforms with:
- CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, Jenkins)
- Support infrastructure automation and configuration management
Security & Compliance
- Manage:
- MQ security (SSL/TLS, authentication, authorization)
- Kafka security (SASL, ACLs, encryption)
- Ensure compliance with enterprise security standards
Collaboration
- Work with:
- Application teams, DevOps, and infrastructure teams
- Support application onboarding onto MQ/Kafka platforms
Participate in release management and deployments
Required Skills & Experience
Core Technical Skills
- Strong hands-on experience in:
- IBM MQ Administration & Development
- Apache Kafka (cluster setup, topic management, troubleshooting)
- Expertise in:
- Messaging patterns (Pub/Sub, Point-to-Point, Event Streaming)
Development Skills
- Experience with:
- Kafka Streams / Kafka Connect
- IBM MQ APIs
Support & Monitoring
- Monitoring tools:
- Dynatrace / Splunk / Prometheus / Grafana
- DevOps & Automation
- Knowledge of:
- CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins)
- Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes – good to have)
- Cloud Exposure (Preferred)
- Experience with:
- Azure Event Hubs / AWS MSK (Kafka equivalents)
- Hybrid or cloud-native messaging architectures
- Soft Skills
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting abilities
- Proactive operational mindset
- Effective communication with cross-functional teams
- Ability to work in high-pressure production environments
Experience
- 10+ years in Middleware / Messaging platforms
- Experience in BFSI domain (preferred)