Kafka Administrator

Spatial Front, Inc.

$100K — $130K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field; equivalent experience may suffice.
  • 3+ years of systems, middleware, or platform administration experience, including 2 years with Apache Kafka or similar messaging platforms.
  • Hands-on experience in administering on-premises Kafka in Linux and familiarity with UNIX/Solaris infrastructure.
  • Proficient in Kafka administration best practices including performance tuning and security configuration.
  • U.S. Citizenship with active Secret security clearance or ability to obtain one, preferably with federal or DoD experience.

Responsibilities

  • Administer and sustain Apache Kafka infrastructure supporting PeopleSoft HCM in a secure environment.
  • Install, configure, patch, upgrade, maintain, and troubleshoot Kafka components across Linux and UNIX/Solaris.
  • Manage topic provisioning, access controls, and secure connectivity according to operational requirements.
  • Develop scripts and automations to enhance platform reliability and streamline administration processes.
  • Monitor cluster health metrics such as throughput, latency, and JVM performance; respond to incidents.
  • Support platform hardening, audit readiness, and compliance within secure and DISA-aligned environments.
  • Collaborate with various teams to ensure efficient data movement and integration operations.

Benefits

  • Flexible hybrid work environment.
  • Opportunities for professional development and training.
  • Health and wellness initiatives.
  • Team-oriented and collaborative workplace culture.
Full Job Description
Job Type

Full-time

Description

The selected candidate will support the administration, sustainment, security, and continuous improvement of on-premises messaging and data integration infrastructure in a secure federal environment, with a focus on PeopleSoft HCM systems.

This role centers on Apache Kafka administration across Linux and UNIX/Solaris environments. Responsibilities include ensuring platform reliability, maintaining secure operations, implementing monitoring solutions, automating processes, and optimizing system performance. The ideal candidate brings strong Kafka administration and troubleshooting expertise, proficiency in scripting, and a disciplined operational approach, along with experience supporting highly secure, compliance-driven networks.

Work Location: Hybrid, On-site - Arlington, VA

Key Responsibilities
  • Administer, monitor, and sustain Apache Kafka infrastructure supporting PeopleSoft HCM and related enterprise integrations in a secure, on-premises environment.
  • Install, configure, patch, upgrade, maintain, and troubleshoot Kafka brokers, clusters, topics, partitions, and supporting components across Linux and UNIX/Solaris-based environments.
  • Manage topic provisioning, replication, retention, consumer groups, access controls, certificates, and secure connectivity in accordance with enterprise security and operational requirements.
  • Develop and maintain scripts, automations, runbooks, and SOPs to improve platform reliability, reduce manual effort, and support repeatable administration.
  • Monitor cluster health, throughput, latency, consumer lag, disk utilization, JVM performance, logs, and alerts; investigate incidents and coordinate timely resolution.
  • Support platform hardening, audit readiness, change control, and compliance with security requirements in highly secured or DISA-aligned network environments.
  • Support high availability, backup and recovery, capacity planning, failover readiness, and environment support across development, test, and production.
  • Collaborate with application, middleware, ETL, database, infrastructure, and cybersecurity teams to support data movement, integration patterns, and stable operations.


Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
  • 3+ years of systems, middleware, or platform administration experience, including at least 2 years supporting Apache Kafka or similar enterprise messaging and streaming platforms.
  • Hands-on experience administering on-premises Kafka environments on Linux, with familiarity supporting broader UNIX/Solaris infrastructure, including monitoring, patching, troubleshooting, and operational support.
  • Experience with Kafka administration best practices such as broker and topic management, replication and retention strategy, performance tuning, logging and monitoring, security configuration, and scripting or automation.
  • Must be a U.S. Citizen with an active Secret security clearance or the ability to obtain one; experience in secured federal or DoD environments preferred.

Desired Skills
  • Familiarity with PeopleSoft HCM architecture, interfaces, batch processing, and enterprise integration patterns.
  • Experience with Kafka security and operations concepts such as TLS/SSL, SASL, ACLs, certificate management, HA/DR, and consumer/producer troubleshooting.
  • Knowledge of runbooks, SOPs, change management, backup and recovery, incident management, problem management, and capacity planning for enterprise platforms.
  • Ability to collaborate across application, integration, data, security, and operations teams in a structured sustainment environment.

Additional Information
  • Clearance: Must be a U.S. Citizen with an active Secret security clearance or the ability to obtain one.
  • Work Environment: On-site/Hybrid as required by the contract and program.
  • Benefits: For more information, visit: http://www.spatialfront.com/pages/career.html
  • This is a full-time, W2 position.
  • No agencies, third parties, or Corp-to-Corp submissions.

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