Platform Engineer – Apache Kafka

Project overview

We are looking for an experienced Platform Engineer with a focus on Apache Kafka for a 7-month, full-time remote project.

Responsibilities

You will be responsible for the design, deployment, and operation of scalable Kafka clusters in hybrid environments (on-premise, cloud, OpenShift). You will configure and maintain Kafka components such as Broker, Connect, ksqlDB, and Schema Registry. Another focus will be on implementing security mechanisms (TLS, SASL, ACLs, Kerberos) as well as monitoring and performance tuning using Prometheus, Grafana, and JMX metrics. You will perform incident management, automate deployments via Infrastructure-as-Code and GitOps workflows, and optimize capacities and costs.

You will also create documentation and train development and operations teams.

Requirements

Advantageous:

Framework conditions:

Start immediately, full-time remote with optional travel readiness. Fluent German skills required. Freelance engagement.

• In-depth expertise in Apache Kafka/Confluent Kafka (Broker installation, cluster setup, topic management, partitioning, replication, quotas, ACLs)
• Experience with Kafka Connect, ksqlDB/Kafka Streams, and Schema Registry
• Monitoring & Performance Tuning (JMX metrics, Prometheus, Grafana)
• Error diagnosis and incident response in production Kafka environments
• Basic knowledge of Kubernetes/OpenShift
• Network and security concepts (TLS/SSL, Kerberos, SASL)
• GitOps automation (ArgoCD/Flux, Helm charts)
• Infrastructure-as-Code with Terraform
• Hybrid cloud experience (Azure + on-premise)
• Container security frameworks
• Disaster recovery and HA strategies
• Kafka cost optimization

Project details

• Start: ab sofort
• Duration: 7 Monate
• Remote: onsite
• Location: Düsseldorf, DE
• Languages: German