Kafka/Spark Software Development Lead -

About the role

This role is for a Kafka and Spark Software Development Lead at CGI, supporting a large US Bank in Pittsburgh, PA. The role involves designing and developing scalable real-time data streaming solutions using Apache Kafka and Spark Structured Streaming.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable real-time data streaming solutions using Apache Kafka and Spark Structured Streaming.
• Build and enhance Kafka producers, consumers, topics, and event-driven architectures to enable reliable, high-throughput data ingestion across multiple platforms.
• Develop and optimize Spark Streaming applications for real-time data transformation, aggregation, enrichment, and analytics to meet evolving business requirements.
• Integrate Kafka and Spark with data lakes, data warehouses, databases, APIs, and enterprise applications to facilitate seamless data movement and processing.
• Implement and maintain highly available streaming pipelines using checkpointing, replication, schema management, and recovery mechanisms.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and tune Kafka and Spark streaming jobs to improve performance, scalability, and operational reliability.
• Collaborate with architects, data engineers, DevOps teams, and business stakeholders to design and implement modern streaming and event-driven data platforms.
• Analyze user requirements, define technical project scope and assumptions for assigned tasks, create technical designs for new systems, and translate detailed requirements into functional system designs.
• Prioritize work, meet deadlines, establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, project team members, supervisors, and employees from other departments.
• Partner with business leaders, enterprise architects, and product owners to identify new graph-based use cases, evaluate emerging technologies, and align Neo4j initiatives with digital transformation goals.

Requirements

• At least 8+ years of experience in designing, developing, and supporting large-scale distributed data processing and streaming applications.
• Strong hands-on experience with Apache Kafka, topic configuration, producer/consumer development, Kafka Connect, and Schema Registry.
• Extensive experience developing real-time data processing applications using Apache Spark Streaming and/or Spark Structured Streaming.
• Proficiency in Java, Scala, or Python (PySpark) with strong object-oriented programming and software development skills.
• A strong understanding of distributed systems, message-oriented middleware, data partitioning, fault tolerance, and scalability concepts.
• Experience integrating Kafka and Spark with relational databases, NoSQL databases, cloud storage platforms, and enterprise applications.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and performance tuning skills in distributed streaming environments.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively in Agile/Scrum teams.
• Experience working in Agile development environments with strong collaboration, technical leadership, problem-solving, and stakeholder communication skills.

Other Information

CGI is required by law in some jurisdictions to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. The determination of this range includes various factors not limited to skill set, level, experience, relevant training, and licensure and certifications. To support the ability to reward for merit-based performance, CGI typically does not hire individuals at or near the top of the range for their role. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range for this role in the U.S. is $70,800.00 - $156,700.00.