Sr. Product Manager, Apache Kafka and Clients

With Confluent, organizations can harness the full power of continuously flowing data to innovate and win in the modern digital world. We have a purpose that drives us to do better every day – we're creating an entirely new category within data infrastructure - data streaming. This technology will allow every organization to create experiences and use the power of data in ways that profoundly impact the way we all live. This impact is our purpose and drives us to do better every day.

One Confluent. One team. One Data Streaming Platform.

Data Connects Us.

About the Role:

Confluent's Apache Kafka and Clients Product Management team is looking for a Senior Product Manager who combines a strong business growth mindset with deep technical expertise as a current or former developer, to spearhead the evolution of Apache Kafka and its clients. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape one of the world's most successful and widely adopted open-source projects. Apache Kafka boasts 30K GitHub stars and over 48 million monthly downloads, with its clients used by millions of developers globally.

In this role, you will be critical in modernizing Apache Kafka by developing future-focused, user-friendly functionalities, particularly in Kafka clients, that meet the needs of Confluent customers and the broader Apache Kafka community. You'll collaborate closely with engineering, Go-to-Market, open-source users, customers, and other stakeholders to drive strategic initiatives and enhance the overall functionality and quality of Apache Kafka and its clients.

What You Will Do:

• Define and execute a strategic vision for innovation in Apache Kafka, with a particular focus on developing modern, high-quality, and user-friendly Apache Kafka Clients.
• Collaborate with engineering, design, other PMs, and the Apache Kafka community to define and execute the product roadmap for specific Apache Kafka features and Kafka clients.
• Actively engage with customers and users to understand their needs, collect feedback, and ensure product improvements align with requirements.
• Oversee the development and release of new features and enhancements, ensuring they align with Confluent’s company and product strategy.
• Conduct competitive research to stay informed about industry trends and evaluate how Apache Kafka and Confluent hold up against competitors.
• Develop and present strategic product initiatives and business cases for new features and improvements.
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of the integration between Apache Kafka and Confluent’s extended features, such as the Schema Registry.
• Empower and support Confluent teams to deliver exceptional experiences for Apache Kafka-based Confluent products

What You Will Bring:

• Proven technical background (e.g., developer, DevOps) with a strong track record of open-source community contributions, ideally with an active GitHub repository or portfolio.
• 5+ years of product management experience and 4+ years of experience in open-source, streaming, and SaaS domains, with a focus on infrastructure and data services
• Experience defining product functional specifications, including RPC and API design, and leading product feature delivery from ideation to launch.
• Strong communication skills and experience working in a collaborative and remote environment.
• A strong passion for open-source community engagement coupled with a focus on achieving business outcomes.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, communicating with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across different teams.
• Understanding of Apache Kafka, Java, and non-Java Clients, and the broader ecosystem is highly desirable.
• Polyglot programming experience, particularly Python, Go, JavaScript, and .Net a plus. 

Come As You Are

At Confluent, equality is a core tenet of our culture. We are committed to building an inclusive global team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, beliefs, and experiences. The more diverse we are, the richer our community and the broader our impact. Employment decisions are made on the basis of job-related criteria without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

At Confluent, we are committed to providing competitive pay and benefits that are in line with industry standards. We analyze and carefully consider several factors when determining compensation, including work history, education, professional experience, and location. This position has an annual estimated salary of $186,100 - $218,700 USD  and a competitive equity package. The actual pay may vary depending on your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Confluent offers a wide range of employee benefits. To learn more about our benefits click HERE.

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