Staff Software Engineer I - Internal Access Management

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: We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the technical vision, architecture, and execution for Internal Access Management at Confluent. This role is central to our trusted compute environment and requires deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud security, authentication, and policy-driven authorization frameworks. As the domain owner, you will define how Confluent enforces least privilege, manages workload identity, governs access boundaries, and ensures secure, auditable authorization across all engineering systems. You will partner with Security, Product, and Engineering to establish a cohesive end-to-end access posture. WHAT YOU WILL DO: - Define and drive the long-term architecture and roadmap for Internal Access Management across Kubernetes and multi-cloud environments. - Architect and implement least privilege, just-in-time access, and zero-trust models across Confluent services. - Build and evolve scalable access-authorization workflows and lifecycle management systems using technologies such as OPA, cloud IAM policies, workload identity, and internal enforcement engines. - Strengthen security boundaries through threat modeling, defense-in-depth practices, and comprehensive access-auditing capabilities. - Partner with cross-functional teams—including Platform, Kafka, Observability, Developer Productivity, Release Engineering, and SRE—to drive adoption of secure identity and access patterns. - Mentor senior engineers, elevate engineering standards, and influence architectural decisions across the organization. - Communicate complex technical decisions clearly and align stakeholders across engineering and security. WHAT YOU WILL BRING: - 10+ years of engineering experience, with 4+ years in security, IAM, or distributed systems. - Deep expertise in Kubernetes, workload identity, cloud IAM (AWS, GCP, Azure), and zero-trust architectures. - Strong understanding of authentication technologies: IAM, OAuth2, OIDC, policy engines, and modern zero-trust principles. - Proven track record leading multi-team technical initiatives at a Staff or Senior Staff level. - Strong knowledge of distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, container orchestration, and service mesh. - Excellent communication and stakeholder-influence skills across engineering and security domains. WHAT GIVES YOU AN EDGE: - Experience leading cross-org security platform architecture initiatives. - Background in building developer-focused authentication and authorization platforms. 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. PRIVACY STATEMENT Confluent is an IBM subsidiary which has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated into the IBM organization. By proceeding with this application, you understand that Confluent will share your personal information with other IBM affiliates involved in your recruitment process, wherever these are located. More Information on how IBM protects your personal information, including the safeguards in case of cross-border data transfer, are available here http://ibm.com/careers/us-en/privacy-policy/.