Senior / Lead Java SDE (GL)

We are looking for a Senior / Lead Software Development Engineer to join the Managed Kafka Connectors initiative. The project focuses on building and improving a managed Kafka connectors ecosystem for cloud data platforms, accelerating onboarding of first-party connectors, and ensuring production readiness across reliability, performance, authentication, and cloud-specific integration requirements.

The role requires strong ownership across implementation, debugging, launch readiness, and operational quality. The engineer will work with Java-based connector workers and core connector logic, Go-based API/service integration layers, and cloud data systems such as BigQuery, Spanner, Bigtable, Iceberg, Debezium, and other source/sink connector workflows.

Requirements:

• Strong Java / JVM engineering experience, including performance-sensitive backend or platform development;
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and reliability principles;
• Practical experience with Kafka / Kafka Connect ecosystem, connector-based systems, or data integration platforms;
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills across infrastructure, networking, authentication, and runtime behavior;
• Experience with build systems, dependency management, and large codebases;
• Practical Go backend/service development experience for API-facing changes and service integration;
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, preferably GCP or similar cloud environments;
• Strong engineering ownership: ability to drive delivery, quality, launch readiness, and operational improvements.

Responsibilities: