Sr. Open Source Software Engineer (Kafka)
Morrisville, North Carolina, United States; Waltham, Massachusetts, United States; San Jose, California, United States; United States
Overview
At NetApp, we have a history of helping customers turn challenges into business opportunities. That’s because we bring new thinking to age-old problems, like how to use data most effectively in the most efficient possible way. As an Engineer with NetApp, you’ll have the opportunity to work with modern cloud and container orchestration technologies in a production setting. You’ll play an important role in scaling systems sustainably through automation and evolving them by pushing for changes to improve reliability and velocity.
Success profile
Ready to be an engineer at NetApp? Explore the traits that can help you thrive.
- Analytical
- Adaptable
- Communicator
- Detail-oriented
- Quick-thinking
- Problem solver
Responsibilities
Morrisville, North Carolina, United States; Waltham, Massachusetts, United States; San Jose, California, United States; United States Job category: Engineering Job ID: 135530-en_USOwn Every Moment at NetApp
At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.
Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins.
Job Summary
Are you an Apache Kafka committer who wants to operate at the highest level of technical and community influence? This role connects deep upstream work, including binding committer authority, KIP-level design, and protocol-aware engineering, directly to production-scale outcomes in enterprise Kafka deployments.
NetApp Instaclustr runs one of the industry's largest managed open source data platform portfolios, including Apache Kafka services for enterprise customers across financial services, retail, and technology sectors. Our open source engineering team contributes to projects that matter to production operators at scale, and this role strengthens our ability to influence Apache Kafka upstream in areas that affect reliability, performance, operability, and customer delivery.
You will work at both levels - upstream influence and customer impact - with meaningful autonomy, strong peer collaboration, and direct access to the product and field relationships that turn technical work into commercial outcomes. This is a globally distributed team with up to 10% travel. The role is based in one of our office locations - US
(San Jose, Raleigh, Boston, or Seattle),
requires 3 days per week in office.
Note that we have global opportunities as well in Cork,Ireland & Netherlands (Schiphol). Postings also available in those markets/locations.
Overview
As a Senior Open Source Software Engineer, your responsibilities will include:
- Lead end-to-end upstream initiatives in Apache Kafka, from KIP authoring and design consensus through implementation, review, and release, in domains such as broker internals, storage and log management, replication, KRaft metadata quorum, consumer group coordination, Kafka Streams, Kafka Connect, observability, and release quality.
- Provide binding committer reviews on upstream patches and community contributions, applying the technical rigor and authority that moves high-quality work through the Apache Kafka review process.
- Contribute to Apache Kafka release management as part of the committer community, including release planning, blocker triage, test stabilization, release candidate validation, documentation readiness, and post-release follow-through.
- Translate enterprise customer and operator needs into credible upstream proposals, KIP-level designs, and sustained technical engagement that only a committer can supply; advise product and field teams on complex Kafka trade-offs.
- Shape community direction through evidence-based participation relevant Kafka community channels; influence project decisions on architecture, compatibility, protocol evolution, release policy, contribution standards, and long-term roadmap.
- Mentor engineers toward committer standing and raise overall contribution quality through rigorous review practices, test discipline, and clear engineering guidance.
- Improve upstream infrastructure, including CI reliability, test coverage, contributor tooling, benchmarking, release automation, and compatibility validation, to reduce project-wide maintenance burden.
Job Requirements
- A minimum of 12 years of applicable professional software engineering experience is required.
- Current Apache Kafka committer status with a sustained and publicly verifiable upstream track record across patches, reviews, KIPs, and community standing in Kafka core or a closely related area such as Streams, Connect, clients, or release engineering.
- Expert Java engineering capability in performance-sensitive, concurrent, and production-grade distributed systems, with the ability to write, review, and reason about complex Kafka internals at depth.
- Deep mastery of Apache Kafka internals in at least one major domain: broker storage and log replication, KRaft and metadata management, consumer group coordination and rebalancing, protocol and client compatibility, Kafka Streams, Kafka Connect, observability, performance, or release management and CI.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical work through the Apache open source governance model: KIP authoring or co-sponsorship, design consensus, mailing-list engagement, and Jira-driven delivery from proposal through merge.
- Strong written communication for asynchronous, global, public technical collaboration - mailing lists, design documents, code reviews, and Jira threads.
- Proven senior-level technical judgment that resolves most blockers independently, determines approach on novel or ambiguous assignments, surfaces systemic risks proactively, and produces work that is consistent with project and team objectives.
Preferred qualifications
- PMC membership in Apache Kafka or a related Apache project.
- Track record of work in current Kafka feature and maintenance areas such as KRaft maturity, controller and metadata reliability, consumer rebalance protocol improvements, exactly-once semantics, tiered storage, Kafka Connect security and operability, Streams APIs, client metrics, or release stabilization.
- Experience connecting upstream technical leadership to enterprise customer and operator outcomes - translating production pain points into accepted community improvements.
- History of mentoring contributors toward reviewer or committer standing in an open governance project.
- Familiarity with the Kafka ecosystem: Kafka Streams, Kafka Connect, MirrorMaker 2, Kafka clients, schema and serialization patterns, Kubernetes-based Kafka operations, or adjacent open source projects such as Strimzi.
Education
Bachelor's degree in engineering or technical related field of study Or additional equivalent experience.
Team Information
Leadership and team culture
The hiring manager for this role is an Engineering Manager for the Open Source Engineering team. You will join a globally distributed group that values committer-grade technical judgment, clear ownership, transparent community engagement, and practical impact on real customer outcomes.
The team culture is high-trust and high-accountability. We support engineers who can go deep technically, mentor others generously, collaborate across product and field functions, and improve both code and the contributor ecosystem around it. You will have significant autonomy paired with close collaboration and genuine visibility into the strategic bets your work enables.
Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is $220,000-265,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off (PTO), various Leave options, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.
At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
Our values
Put the customer at the center. Care for each other and our communities. Think and act like owners. Build belonging every day. Embrace a growth mindset.
Benefits
Volunteer time off
40 hours of paid volunteer time each year.
Well-being
Employee Assistance Program, fitness, and mental health resources to help employees be their best.
Time away
Paid time off for vacation and to recharge.
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Equal Opportunity Employer*
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status and any other protected classification. We pledge to take every reasonable step to ensure that our applicants and employees are respected, treated fairly and with dignity. See the EEO poster, Know your rights poster, and NetApp EEO policy. NetApp makes reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable laws, for religious purposes and for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, who can perform the essential job functions unless undue hardship would result.
State-specific postings/notices to applicants regarding contract compliance can be found here in English and here in Spanish, and fair employment practice information can be found here.
Reasonable Accommodations
At NetApp, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible workplace where individuals with disabilities can thrive. In alignment with our values, NetApp provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments where possible to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, in accordance with employment rights and regulations relevant to their country of employment, to ensure equal access to employment opportunities and job performance.
Applicants who would like to request an accommodation or adjustment are encouraged to Contact Us. Each request will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable laws and our commitment to equity and belonging within our culture, values and business practices. Requests will be handled confidentially and respectfully, and we will work collaboratively to identify effective solutions.
- For reasonable accommodations in Germany, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in France, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in The Netherlands, click here.
Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes to the above email address.
Data privacy
We care about your privacy and, therefore, ask that you read our Candidate Privacy Notice before you submit any personal information to us.
NetApp does not carry out any solely automated decision making (i.e. the process of making a decision by automated means without any human involvement) in determining your suitability or eligibility for specific roles.
However, the processing of your personal information is carried out with the aid of manual and automated tools. In particular, NetApp may use an automated employment evaluation tool or similar tool as one of several tools, actions, and/or steps to assist with NetApp’s review of candidate applications for various hiring needs. Currently, when addressing certain hiring needs, NetApp uses the Eightfold tool which can provide an initial ranking of a candidate’s skills and experience, based on information provided by the applicant in the application and/or supporting documentation, in comparison to the NetApp designated key requirements of a specific role. Additionally, the tool may be used to help review and/or rank internal employees seeking promotion or other internal mobility. However, our talent acquisition team or our recruiters will ultimately select the candidates for further consideration, following human review of any automated evaluation results and associated underlying documentation (or lack thereof) submitted with the candidates’ application.
An independent audit of the Eightfold Matching Model tool can be found at https://eightfold.ai/nyc-eightfoldmatching-model.
Candidates may request an alternative selection process which will not be subject to the Eightfold matching tool or to any electronic automated employment evaluation by contacting NetApp at careers@netapp.com. To bypass the Eightfold matching tool or any electronic automated employment evaluation, you must include a resume and job ID with your email to careers@netapp.com and you must include in the subject line of your email: Data Privacy Request. Candidates who have questions or want to request additional information on the source of data, type of data, and/or collection of data related to the candidate review process should contact NetApp at careers@netapp.com
Note: Eightfold is not applicable to temporary hiring opportunities. If you are interested in temporary roles, you can apply via a third-party site managed by our preferred supplier, Magnit Global. Magnit Global will provide its own privacy disclosures for your review as part of the application process.
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team reviews applications submitted through our company website only. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
AI Disclosure
For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.