Kafka Engineer - Irving, TX / Jersey City, NJ (Need Locals) - Only W2

BCforward is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Kafka Admin to join our dynamic team based in Irving, TX, or Jersey City, NJ Job Title: Kafka Admin Expected Duration: 6 Months Location: Irving, TX / Jersey City, NJ Job Description: We are seeking an experienced Kafka Messaging Infrastructure Lead / Kafka Admin to support and enhance our enterprise Confluent Kafka platform. This role will work closely with technology teams to ensure seamless integration, high availability, performance, and scalability of our Kafka environment. Key Responsibilities: • Administer, manage, and optimize Confluent Kafka clusters in large-scale, multi-node environments. • Install, upgrade, configure, and maintain Confluent components (Control Center, Schema Registry, Connect, Replicator, Security Plugins). • Troubleshoot and resolve Kafka infrastructure, performance, and connectivity issues. • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and implement Kafka solutions supporting event-driven architecture. • Identify system enhancements, document requirements, and recommend technical improvements. • Support risk mitigation, security compliance, and operational best practices. Required Experience: • 6+ years hands-on experience with Apache Kafka & Confluent Platform administration. • Strong understanding of Kafka Brokers, Zookeeper, Schema Registry, Kafka Connect, and event-streaming workflows. • Experience managing Kafka cluster installations, upgrades, scaling, and monitoring. • Hands-on experience with Ansible or scripting (Bash/Python) for automation. • Strong communication and stakeholder collaboration skills. Preferred: • Experience providing mentorship or leading support teams. • Background in application development or system engineering.