Senior Software Engineer (Cloud Control Plane)

TL;DR

Senior Software Engineer (Cloud Control Plane): Designing and implementing a distributed control plane that helps product teams manage the lifecycle of Confluent Cloud offerings with an accent on Kubernetes-based infrastructure, Terraform/Helm provisioning, and operating the service before and after release. Focus on building distributed systems and APIs while ensuring reliable operation through on-call support.

Location: Remote (United Kingdom, Hursley, Hampshire)

Company

IBM Software builds AI-powered, cloud-native products and platforms for digital transformation.

What you will do

• Design and implement a distributed control plane for managing Confluent Cloud lifecycle workflows.
• Work deeply with Kubernetes and related ecosystem components used internally.
• Provision infrastructure using Terraform and internal tooling, and deploy changes with Helm.
• Develop iteratively in a Scrum environment with a DevOps-driven approach.
• Ship code and operate/support it before and after release, including on-call responsibilities.
• Build and integrate APIs (REST and gRPC) and related control-plane capabilities.

Requirements

• Strong software design and implementation skills for infrastructure frameworks.
• Deep expertise in building distributed systems.
• Experience with Go, C++, Java, or Python.
• Experience across a full project lifecycle, including operating/observing/supporting a production product via an on-call rota.
• Solid understanding of Kubernetes and Docker.

Nice to have

• Experience building control planes (virtualization, software-defined networking/storage).
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes operators, Helm, or StatefulSets.
• Open source contributions to Kubernetes sigs or adjacent projects.
• Experience with TDD, PBT, and pair programming.

Culture & Benefits

• Tightly knit team with a mature Agile process and lightweight XP practices (clear communication, task breakdown, pairing).
• Authority and autonomy to make decisions with a collaboration-first approach.
• DevOps-driven expectations: ownership includes operating and supporting services.
• Some travel may be required based on business demand.

Hiring process

• Application submission followed by recruiter discussion about location requirements.