Cloud Architect - Event Streaming Platform (Apache Pulsar & Kafka) (m/f/n)

The project is focused on evaluating Apache Pulsar as a next-generation event streaming platform within a complex enterprise environment that includes sovereign cloud, public cloud, and on-premises infrastructure. The successful consultant will design, deploy, operate, and benchmark Apache Pulsar clusters while ensuring interoperability with existing Kafka and JMS workloads. The engagement involves architecture assessment, compatibility analysis, replication validation, multi-tenancy testing, performance benchmarking, observability integration, and production-readiness evaluation.

• 5+ years of experience in Cloud Architecture, distributed systems engineering, or messaging platform design and operations.
• Fluent English (written and spoken) required; additional European language is an asset.
• Higher education degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
• Strong hands-on experience with Apache Kafka architecture, operations, tuning, troubleshooting.
• Knowledge or ability to quickly ramp up on Apache Pulsar architecture.
• Experience in designing multi-cloud and hybrid architectures involving AWS, sovereign cloud, and on-premises.
• Proficiency in containerized deployments using Kubernetes/OpenShift, Helm charts.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation with Python, Bash, Terraform, Ansible.
• Experience with monitoring tools: Dynatrace, Grafana, Splunk, OpenSearch.
• Experience with CI/CD and GitOps using GitLab CI, ArgoCD, or similar.
• Understanding of JMS 2.0, Kafka protocol, AMQP with experience in protocol bridging or migration.
• Knowledge or willingness to evaluate Apache Pulsar protocol handlers (Starlight for Kafka, StreamNative KSN, Pulsar JMS).
• Knowledge of event-driven architectures and technologies like Kafka Streams, Flink, Spark Streaming.
• Experience with managed Kafka/streaming platforms such as Confluent Kafka.
• Experience with performance testing methodologies for distributed systems.
• Strong analytical, documentation, and communication skills.
• EU citizenship required.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in an international and multicultural environment.

Nice to have:

• Experience with CleverCloud or European sovereign cloud providers.
• Experience with Redis and key-value store patterns.
• Certifications in Kafka, Kubernetes, or cloud platforms.
• ITIL qualification.

Architecture Design & Evaluation:

• Lead architectural assessment of Apache Pulsar as a replacement or extension of Kafka-based platforms.
• Design target-state architectures for intra-cloud, cross-cloud, and hybrid messaging.

Pulsar Deployment & Configuration:

• Deploy, configure, and operate Apache Pulsar clusters on CleverCloud and on-premises containerized environments (OpenShift/Kubernetes).

Performance Benchmarking:

• Design and execute performance tests across various message sizes, loads, and tenant setups.
• Compare results against existing Kafka cluster baselines.

Protocol Compatibility Assessment:

• Evaluate Kafka-on-Pulsar protocol handlers and Pulsar JMS support.
• Prototype migration of Kafka and JMS-based applications to Pulsar with minimal code changes.

Geo-Replication & Hybrid Architecture:

• Configure and validate Pulsar geo-replication between sovereign cloud, public cloud, and on-premises.
• Assess latency, disaster recovery, and cross-environment scenarios.

Observability & Monitoring:

• Integrate Pulsar monitoring with tools such as Dynatrace, Grafana, Splunk, and OpenSearch.
• Validate operational visibility for production readiness.

Multi-Tenancy Validation:

• Configure and test Pulsar's native multi-tenancy model.

Documentation & Recommendations:

• Produce POC findings, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), and final recommendations.

Collaboration:

• Work closely with Kafka operations, solution architects, and application teams.

Training & Knowledge Sharing:

• Provide technical guidance on event streaming architecture and Pulsar capabilities.

• EU citizenship is required.