Staff Software Engineer I - SRE

Confluent3 weeks ago

Location

IN Remote India

Type

Full Time

Level

Staff

Role

Site Reliability Engineer

Posted

Feb 16, 2026

Full TimeStaff

The role

Summary

Confluent is seeking a Staff Software Engineer I - SRE to drive proactive reliability improvements across their multi-cloud streaming platform that processes millions of events per second. The role combines 75% hands-on engineering work (building automation, tooling, and reliability systems) with 25% incident management program leadership and cross-team coaching. This position requires 10+ years of SRE experience with deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud platforms, and incident management tooling.

What you'll do

Proactive Reliability Engineering: Analyze systemic failure patterns and design improvements that prevent incident recurrence across multi-cloud streaming platform

SLO/SLA Framework Management: Define and maintain Service Level Objectives and Agreements, using error budgets to guide reliability investments

Automation and Tooling Development: Build tooling and automation to reduce incident response toil and scale team impact across engineering organization

Incident Management Platform Ownership: Own Rootly configuration, workflows, and integrations with PagerDuty, Jira, Confluence, and Slack

Reliability Data Analysis: Analyze reliability data to identify systemic improvements and build dashboards that drive actionable insights

AI-Assisted Incident Analysis: Explore AI-assisted approaches to documentation quality and incident analysis for improved response times

Incident Response Program Leadership: Own standards, practices, and continuous improvement of incident response across global engineering teams

Incident Commander Training: Define incident commander eligibility criteria, manage rotation, and develop training programs for engineering teams

Escalation Management: Serve as escalation incident commander when incidents exceed team's management chain capabilities

Post-Mortem Facilitation: Coach teams through post-mortems and develop actionable corrective actions to prevent recurrence

Customer Root Cause Analysis: Edit and review customer-facing incident documents ensuring quality, clarity, and technical accuracy

Cross-Team Reliability Leadership: Partner with engineering leaders to elevate reliability practices and serve as trusted advisor

What we look for

Technical

SRE Experience10+ years in Site Reliability Engineering, incident management, or reliability engineering

Cloud Platform ExpertiseDeep experience with at least one of AWS, GCP, or Azure cloud platforms

Incident Management ToolsDeep expertise with incident management tooling such as Rootly, PagerDuty, or similar platforms

Distributed Systems KnowledgeStrong understanding of distributed systems and failure modes at scale

Observability ExpertiseDeep experience with observability: metrics, logging, tracing, and ability to diagnose complex issues

Container OrchestrationKubernetes and container orchestration experience

CI/CD Pipeline UnderstandingUnderstanding of CI/CD pipelines and release processes

Systems ThinkingUnderstanding how infrastructure design choices affect failure modes and recovery

SLO/SLA Framework KnowledgeFamiliarity with Service Level Objectives and Service Level Agreements frameworks

Education

Bachelor's DegreeBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field preferred

Advanced Technical CertificationsCloud platform certifications (AWS, GCP, Azure) and SRE-related certifications preferred

Experience

Large Organization ExperienceLarge company experience navigating reliability/incident programs at 500+ engineer organizations

Cross-Organizational LeadershipTrack record as trusted advisor across engineering organizations

Process and Cultural ChangeExperience driving organization-wide process and cultural changes

Technical CommunicationStrong written communication skills for design docs, one-pagers, and runbooks

Post-Mortem FacilitationDemonstrated experience with post-mortem facilitation and incident analysis

Async CollaborationExperience with asynchronous collaboration across multiple time zones

Skills

Required skills

Site Reliability Engineering10+ years of hands-on SRE experience with focus on proactive reliability improvements

Cloud PlatformsDeep expertise in at least one major cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure)

Incident ManagementExpert-level experience with incident management tools like Rootly, PagerDuty

Distributed SystemsStrong understanding of distributed systems architecture and failure modes at scale

ObservabilityDeep experience with metrics, logging, tracing, and complex issue diagnosis

KubernetesContainer orchestration experience for multi-cloud deployments

Systems ThinkingUnderstanding of how infrastructure design affects failure modes and recovery

LeadershipTrack record as trusted advisor driving organization-wide process improvements

Technical CommunicationStrong written communication for design docs, runbooks, and incident documentation

Nice to have

Apache KafkaExperience with Kafka or event streaming platforms, or demonstrated rapid mastery of complex systems

Multi-Cloud ExperienceExperience with 2+ cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) for enhanced reliability

AI-Assisted WorkflowsExperience with modern CI/CD, GitHub, and AI-assisted workflows for automation

Large-Scale OrganizationsExperience in organizations with 500+ engineers and complex reliability programs

Post-Mortem FacilitationAdvanced skills in facilitating effective post-mortems and developing actionable corrective actions

Compensation & benefits

Benefits

Equal Opportunity Workplace

Employment decisions based on job-related criteria without regard to protected classifications

Inclusive Culture

Belonging-focused workplace with emphasis on diverse perspectives and leadership opportunities

Global Team Collaboration

Follow-the-sun coverage with clean handoffs maintaining sustainable work hours

Professional Growth

Opportunities to lead cross-team initiatives and drive organization-wide improvements

Remote Work Flexibility

Remote work opportunity in India with global team collaboration

Interview process

1
Initial Screening — Phone or video screening with recruiter covering background, experience, and role expectations
2
Technical Deep Dive — Technical interview focusing on SRE experience, incident management, and distributed systems knowledge
3
System Design — System design interview covering reliability architecture, failure modes, and scalability patterns
4
Behavioral Interview — Leadership and collaboration assessment focusing on cross-team influence and process improvement experience
5
Final Round — Panel interview with engineering leadership covering strategic thinking and cultural fit