Staff Software Engineer - Flink SQL
Company: Confluent
Location: San Diego
Posted on: February 17, 2026
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Job Description:
We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data
moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data
doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion,
streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build
smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around
them. It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those
who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each
other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing
toward something bigger, together. One Confluent. One Team. One
Data Streaming Platform. About the Role: Confluent is seeking an
innovative and executing Staff Engineer to help make stream
processing feel like using a database with SQL. In this role, you
will be instrumental in developing the core building blocks that
will allow users a true just-in time, consumption based experience,
making it the most efficient and fast cloud native Apache Flink
experience on the market. You will be working in a team with other
known Flink experts iterating on an already existing implementation
based on actual usage data and product requirements. With the team
you will also be working on relevant components of open source
Apache Flink that will benefit both the Open Source community as
well as Confluent. What You Will Do: • Work on the next iterations
of Flink SQL components such as logical query planner, parser,
optimizer and SQL runtime on Confluent Cloud to deliver an
efficient and unified experience for batch and streaming workloads.
• Following a holistic development approach you will be responsible
for the code quality, test coverage, documentation and
maintainability of the components you and your team work on. •
Designing Components: You will not only implement aspects of Flink
SQL but also draft designs, discuss them and curate and moderate a
decision with involved stakeholders. • Open Source contribution: As
part of the Flink SQL team you will contribute to relevant changes
and features to Open Source Apache Flink and help the community to
maintain a high quality project by participating in relevant
mailing list discussions, reviewing PRs affecting deployment and
coordination components. • Open Source visibility: You will also
write blog posts and give talks at meetups and conferences to
strengthen the position of Confluent Cloud as industry experts for
stream processing and Apache Flink in particular. • Team: As part
of the team you will help to follow and maintain processes, by
being an active part of the team, leading meetings and taking
initiatives where feasible and participating in on-call rotations.
• Mentoring: You will mentor other engineers with less experience
in Apache Flink to get started in the community and more junior
developers to get into the area of serverless Apache Flink. What
You Will Bring: • 10 years of relevant software development
experience. • Technical Expertise: Deep knowledge of database
internals, especially around query planning and optimization.
Extensive experience in software development, including hands-on
experience in designing and development of complex distributed
systems. • Problem Solving: Strong problem-solving skills, capable
of translating complex requirements into effective solutions. •
Communication: Excellent communication skills, both written and
verbal, with the ability to collaborate across teams. • Industry
Engagement: Active involvement in stream processing communities,
conferences, and a strong network within the industry.
Keywords: Confluent, Colton , Staff Software Engineer - Flink SQL, IT / Software / Systems , San Diego, California
