Senior Software Engineer, Streaming

Attentive is seeking a highly driven Senior Software Engineer, Streaming, to lead the evolution of its event streaming platform. This role involves architecting high-throughput, low-latency solutions, driving migration to managed streaming services like Managed Kafka and Confluent, and enhancing self-service tools for developers. The engineer will solve complex distributed systems challenges, champion best practices, and collaborate across teams to launch new customer-facing features built on robust streaming infrastructure.

Must Have

• Architecting and supporting high-throughput, distributed systems at scale
• Deep understanding of distributed streaming frameworks (Kafka, Flink, Pulsar, Spark)
• Proficiency in Java (Spring Boot) and modern development practices
• Ability to debug issues across the stack (serialization, schemas, network, JVM)
• Familiarity with resource scheduling, data locality, and infrastructure cost impact
• Experience with observability and developer tooling for streaming (tracing, metrics, replay)
• Expertise in Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Helm) and Kubernetes (EKS)
• Track record of modernizing platforms and implementing self-service capabilities

Perks & Benefits

• Competitive perks and benefits
• Health & wellness benefits
• Equity

About the Role

We’re looking for a highly driven Software Engineer with a strong grasp of distributed systems and streaming technologies. In this role, you’ll help lead our move to managed streaming platforms, expand self-service tools for developers, and ensure our event streaming infrastructure is robust, efficient, and reliable. Your work will enable faster innovation and directly support new customer-facing features at Attentive.

What You'll Accomplish

• Architect and evolve Attentive’s next-generation event streaming platform: Design high-throughput, low-latency solutions that power mission-critical messaging, personalization, and data integration use cases across Attentive’s ecosystem
• Drive the transition to managed services: Lead the migration from legacy infrastructure to managed event streaming platforms (e.g., Managed Kafka, Confluent), reducing operational overhead and enabling greater scale
• Enhance self-service for product engineering and data teams: Build and refine self-serve tools for event observability, debugging, load testing, and system configuration, empowering teams to experiment and ship quickly
• Simplify and modernize streaming architecture: Remove unnecessary abstraction layers, enable direct access for power users, and ensure the platform is flexible for both “paved path” and advanced use cases
• Solve complex distributed systems challenges: Improve event delivery reliability, cost efficiency, and system integration for real-time and batch workloads
• Champion best practices and technology selection: Stay ahead of industry advancements in event streaming, advocating for tools and approaches that balance innovation with long-term reliability
• Collaborate across engineering: Partner with product, data, and infrastructure teams to launch new customer-facing features, integrations, and scalable solutions built on streaming infrastructure

Your Expertise

• Proven experience architecting and supporting high-throughput, distributed systems at scale—especially those involving event streaming or messaging platforms
• Deep understanding of the internals of distributed streaming frameworks such as Kafka, Flink, Pulsar, and/or Spark
• Proficient in Java (Spring Boot) and familiar with modern development practices, including object-oriented design, data structures, and algorithms
• Able to debug issues across the stack—from message serialization and event schemas to network and JVM tuning—and communicate tradeoffs clearly
• Familiar with resource scheduling, data locality, and how infrastructure choices impact cost and system behavior
• Experience with observability and developer tooling for streaming (e.g., tracing, metrics, replay).Infrastructure-as-code expertise (Terraform, Helm), comfortable with Kubernetes (EKS) and cloud-native environments
• Track record of modernizing platforms: sunsetting legacy systems, moving to managed services, or implementing self-service capabilities
• Excited by new technologies, but pragmatic about introducing them—focused on solving real business problems

What We Use

• Event streaming: Apache Kafka, Pulsar, Flink
• Cloud infrastructure: AWS EKS (Kubernetes), Terraform, Helm, Datadog, Istio, CloudFlare
• Backend: Java, Spring Boot, Gradle, DynamoDB, Postgres, Redis, and other AWS-native services
• Frontend/tools: (As relevant for observability dashboards) React, TypeScript, GraphQL, Storybook, Vite
• Automation/data: Python, open-source frameworks for testing and observability, with integrations for ML and analytics use cases

You'll get competitive perks and benefits, from health & wellness to equity, to help you bring your best self to work.

For US based applicants:

• The US base salary range for this full-time position is $160,000-$205,000 annually + equity + benefits

• Our salary ranges are determined by role, level and location

#LI-AB2

Attentive Company Values

Default to Action - Move swiftly and with purpose

Be One Unstoppable Team - Rally as each other’s champions

Champion the Customer - Our success is defined by our customers' success

Act Like an Owner - Take responsibility for Attentive’s success

Learn more about AWAKE, Attentive’s collective of employee resource groups.

If you do not meet all the requirements listed here, we still encourage you to apply! No job description is perfect, and we may also have another opportunity that closely matches your skills and experience.

At Attentive, we know that our Company's strength lies in the diversity of our employees. Attentive is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunities for all employees, applicants and covered individuals regardless of protected characteristics. We prioritize and maintain a fair, inclusive and equitable workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Attentive is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities. If you need any assistance or reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.