Kafka Developer

WHO WE ARE: Founded in 2007, DTI (Diversified Technology, Inc.) is a successful African American owned IT Consulting/Staffing firm based in Chicago's Loop. WHAT WE DO: We focus on providing delivery, staffing, and supported services such as enterprise integration/implementations including, but not limited to, CRM, EAM, ERP, PMO, and QA. We service clients in SLED (state/local gov't & education), financial services, fortune, public utility, as well as regularly partnering with Big 4 SI partners. 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. Pay rate: Please click on the link below for our company benefits https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q2mHf0U1akaC1ZKC65-VyyG3FrKBGNCahx3WpS2mj7M/edit?usp=sharing DTI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under Illinois state or federal law. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply, and employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, and business needs.