Platform Engineer - Kafka & Integration Platforms

We are looking for an experienced Platform Engineer - Kafka & Integration Platforms to build, operate, and continuously improve enterprise integration and messaging platforms used by multiple development teams.

The role has a strong focus on Apache Kafka, Strimzi, HiveMQ, Kubernetes/AKS, platform automation, stability, scalability, security, and observability. You will take end-to-end operational responsibility following a “you build it – you run it” approach, while enabling development teams through reliable platform capabilities and self-service tooling.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain multi-cluster, multi-region Apache Kafka environments using Strimzi on Kubernetes
• Administer and maintain enterprise HiveMQ MQTT brokers
• Manage Kafka, Strimzi, and HiveMQ upgrades, patching, and CVE remediation with minimal or zero application downtime
• Develop and maintain custom Kafka Connect Source/Sink connectors
• Manage Kafka topics, partitions, compaction, retention, and cluster resource allocation
• Design scaling strategies and optimize Kubernetes resources for high-throughput messaging workloads
• Design high-availability and disaster recovery solutions, including cross-region replication and automated failover
• Manage Schema Registries using Avro, Protobuf, and JSON Schema
• Implement Kafka security using ACLs, SASL, OAuth/OIDC, mTLS, SSL, and RBAC
• Manage advanced ingress and traffic-routing capabilities for messaging platforms
• Build observability and monitoring solutions using Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, Fluent Bit, and OpenTelemetry
• Configure proactive alerting for platform, Kubernetes, JVM, storage, and performance issues
• Perform Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for platform incidents and implement preventive measures
• Provide Tier 3 support for complex Kafka and integration issues
• Support Java/Spring Boot development teams with Kafka Producer/Consumer configuration and best practices
• Build and maintain reusable GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines
• Use Helm and Infrastructure as Code to automate and standardize platform deployments
• Support automated scaling using technologies such as KEDA
• Develop self-service capabilities enabling teams to safely provision topics, schemas, and credentials
• Handle incident, problem, and change management at platform level
• Collaborate closely with Security, Architecture, and development teams

Requirements

• 4-6 years of hands-on experience with Apache Kafka, including platform-level cluster management, performance, and security
• Strong experience with Strimzi, Kafka Connect API, and KRaft
• 4-6 years of experience with Java and Spring Boot
• Strong experience with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Experience with HiveMQ
• Experience with PostgreSQL
• Strong Linux knowledge, including WSL
• Experience with GitHub Actions and ArgoCD
• Strong understanding of CI/CD using GitHub Actions and/or Jenkins
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code, preferably Terraform or equivalent
• Experience with Helm
• Hands-on experience with Grafana, Prometheus, and Splunk
• Experience with Fluent Bit or OpenTelemetry
• Good understanding of platform security, authentication, authorization, and access management
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Comfortable taking end-to-end operational responsibility
• Fluent in English

Nice to Have

• Experience with API Management (APIM) platforms
• Experience with Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud
• Experience with cloud cost optimization
• Experience working within an integration department in a large enterprise environment
• Experience with KEDA and event-driven autoscaling
• Knowledge of advanced Kafka governance and Schema Registry practices
• Swedish language skills

You will be a great candidate for us if you

• Have deep hands-on expertise in Kafka and integration platform engineering
• Enjoy taking ownership of platforms from design through production operations
• Have a strong automation and Infrastructure-as-Code mindset
• Are comfortable troubleshooting complex distributed systems
• Focus on platform stability, scalability, security, and performance
• Enjoy enabling development teams through reusable tooling and self-service capabilities
• Have a collaborative and humble approach when working across engineering, security, and architecture teams

Benefits

Why join inventYOU

• Work with modern Kafka, Kubernetes, Azure, and cloud-native technologies
• Take ownership of large-scale enterprise integration platforms
• Work on complex challenges involving messaging, automation, security, and distributed systems
• Collaborate with experienced engineering, architecture, and security professionals
• Continue developing your expertise in modern platform engineering and DevOps practices