Manager, IT System Engineering

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: The Corporate Engineering team at Confluent is responsible for building and maintaining a secure, scalable, and high-performing cloud infrastructure that supports our internal enterprise systems and applications. We are a cloud-native organization with infrastructure entirely based in AWS and GCP, and we support internal productivity through tooling, access, automation, and responsive support. We are seeking a Manager of IT Systems Engineering to lead our team of system and cloud infrastructure engineers. This role will focus on building and supporting internal services, managing our cloud environments, and ensuring secure and reliable access for our employees. The ideal candidate combines strong technical acumen in cloud architecture, systems administration, endpoint management, and networking with excellent organizational and communication skills. This role reports to the Director of Corporate Engineering and oversees key areas: - System Engineering and Automation - Cloud Infrastructure - VPN & Network Access - Internal Application Support - Endpoint Management - Office & Remote Networking Support What You Will Do: - Team Management: Lead and mentor a team of system and cloud engineers, ensuring strong performance, collaboration, and professional development. - Cloud Infrastructure Ownership: Oversee the design, management, and optimization of our cloud environments in AWS and GCP. - Network & VPN Management: Support secure connectivity for all users, managing tools such as Palo Alto GlobalProtect and Twingate for VPN access and zero-trust networking. - Internal Application Support: Manage core productivity tools including Okta, Google Workspace, and Slack. - Endpoint Management: Administer and configure Jamf (for macOS) and Intune (for Windows) to ensure device compliance, configuration, and policy management. - Automation & Operations: Drive scripting and automation of system administration tasks, improving uptime, speed, and reliability. - Security & Compliance Collaboration: Partner with Security and IT Compliance to maintain controls aligned to SOC2 and ISO27001. - Process Ownership: Document runbooks, infrastructure diagrams, and system architecture. Build reliable escalation paths and SLAs for internal support. - Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with client engineering, identity, and IT security to deliver a seamless employee technology experience. - Incident Management & On-Call: Participate in high-impact incident response and participate in on-call rotation. What You Will Bring: - Experience: 5+ years in system/cloud engineering roles, with 2+ years managing technical teams. - Networking Knowledge: Experience with VPN and office network tools, including Palo Alto, Twingate, and common routing/switching protocols. - Enterprise App Support: Familiarity with administering and integrating SaaS platforms like Google Workspace, Slack, and Okta. - Endpoint Management Tools: Deep knowledge of Jamf Pro (macOS) and Microsoft Intune (Windows) for configuration management, compliance, and software deployment. - Scripting & Automation: Proficiency in scripting languages like Python, Bash, or similar. - Cloud Expertise: Strong hands-on experience with AWS and GCP, including IAM, VPC, networking, and resource optimization. - Communication & Organization: Ability to communicate technical topics to both engineers and business stakeholders. Strong documentation and planning skills. - Security Mindset: Working knowledge of zero-trust access, SSO, IAM, and cloud-native security models. - Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to build partnerships across engineering, IT, and business teams. Customer Focus: Passion for delivering reliable internal tooling and infrastructure that empowers employees. READY TO BUILD WHAT'S NEXT? LET’S GET IN MOTION. COME AS YOU ARE Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.