Kafka Developer / Consultant (Event-Driven Integration)

Location: Columbus, OH (Remote with occasional travel as needed)
Duration: Multi-Year Engagement
Client: Public Utility Client
Employment Type: Contract

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Kafka Developer / Consultant to support a multi-year CIS transformation program for our public utility client in Columbus, Ohio. This role will be responsible for designing, developing, and supporting scalable event-driven integration solutions using Apache Kafka to enable real-time communication between SAP, CIS, and enterprise utility systems.

The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience building event-driven architectures, real-time data streaming solutions, distributed systems, and enterprise integration platforms. This individual will play a critical role in modernizing the utility technology landscape by enabling high-volume, resilient, and scalable integrations across customer, billing, metering, asset management, and operational systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop event-driven architectures using Apache Kafka (Producers, Consumers, Topics, Streams)
• Build and manage real-time data pipelines and streaming integrations supporting the CIS transformation program
• Configure and optimize Kafka clusters, topics, partitions, replication strategies, and retention policies
• Develop Kafka-based integration solutions across SAP, CIS, and enterprise utility systems
• Implement event-streaming patterns including publish/subscribe, event sourcing, and asynchronous messaging
• Ensure scalability, reliability, fault tolerance, and high availability of Kafka-based solutions
• Integrate Kafka with middleware and enterprise integration platforms including SAP BTP Integration Suite, MuleSoft, Azure APIs, and related technologies
• Design and support real-time event-driven integrations between customer, billing, metering, and operational systems
• Monitor and troubleshoot Kafka environments using Confluent Control Center and related monitoring tools
• Collaborate with architects, business analysts, integration teams, and stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Contribute to architecture design, technical documentation, error handling strategies, and integration best practices
• Support SIT, UAT, deployment, cutover, and production support activities
• Participate in enterprise integration governance and architecture review activities

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field
• 4+ years of software development and integration experience
• Hands-on experience with Apache Kafka including design, development, configuration, and administration
• Strong understanding of:
  • Event-Driven Architecture (EDA)
  • Distributed systems
  • Asynchronous messaging
  • Real-time streaming architectures
• Experience building:
  • Kafka Producers and Consumers
  • Topic design and partitioning strategies
  • Event streaming solutions
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages:
  • Java
  • Scala
  • Python
• Experience with REST APIs and enterprise integration patterns
• Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and performance tuning skills
• Experience supporting enterprise integration testing and deployment activities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Confluent Kafka Platform including:
  • Schema Registry
  • Kafka Connect
  • KSQL
  • Confluent Control Center
• Experience with SAP BTP Integration Suite
• Experience integrating Kafka with enterprise platforms such as:
  • SAP
  • Salesforce
  • CIS platforms
  • Utility applications
• Experience with Azure APIs, MuleSoft, or other enterprise middleware solutions
• Cloud platform experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP Kafka services
• Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD tools
• Understanding of:
  • SSL
  • SASL
  • Authentication and Authorization
  • Avro
  • JSON
  • Protobuf

Preferred Utility Experience

• Public utility industry experience strongly preferred
• Experience supporting Customer Information Systems (CIS) transformations
• Knowledge of utility business processes including:
  • Customer Service
  • Billing
  • Metering
  • Work Management
  • Asset Management
  • Field Operations
• Experience supporting large-scale utility modernization programs

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Self-driven with an architect mindset for enterprise-grade solutions
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and business audiences

Typical Use Cases the Role Will Support

• Event-driven integration between SAP and external systems
• Real-time customer and service event streaming
• High-volume asynchronous data processing pipelines
• Enterprise publish/subscribe messaging architectures
• Real-time integration between CIS, SAP, metering, billing, and operational systems
• Utility customer lifecycle and service event processing
• Large-scale event-driven integrations supporting a multi-year CIS transformation program

This is a long-term opportunity supporting a strategic utility modernization initiative and offers the opportunity to work on one of the largest CIS transformation programs in the utility industry.