Middleware & Messaging Operations Manager

In this role, you will:

• Lead the Middleware & Messaging Operations team, overseeing the management and stability of messaging systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ, Redis) and other middleware supporting software applications.
• Ensure the continuous health, performance, and availability of critical messaging infrastructure by implementing proactive monitoring, alerting, and automated systems.
• Develop and execute Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies, ensuring the messaging infrastructure is resilient to outages and disasters.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement self-service tools for messaging configuration, empowering developers through version-controlled systems like Git.
• Drive capacity planning, performance optimization, and security enforcement across all messaging platforms, ensuring future scalability and regulatory compliance.
• Conduct incident response, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement efforts to optimize performance and prevent recurring issues.
• Foster a culture of automation and operational excellence, identifying and eliminating manual tasks through scripting and tooling.
• Implement and maintain self-service configuration tools, allowing teams to manage Kafka configurations through systems like Git.
• Maintain detailed documentation of all messaging systems, configurations, and processes, and encourage knowledge sharing within and outside the team.
• Provide 24x7 on-call support, ensuring incidents are swiftly handled and minimizing downtime.

• Educational background: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field
• At least 3+ years of proven experience in managing messaging platforms like Kafka, RabbitMQ, and Redis in a production environment.
• Experience managing small teams, including people leadership, mentoring, and resource allocation.
• Demonstrated success in leading and scaling operations teams, with a strong focus on reliability and performance.
• Expertise in business continuity planning, disaster recovery, capacity planning, and incident management.
• Strong experience with automation tools and scripting (e.g., Python, Ansible, Terraform, GitHub Actions, Jira Groovy) for operational tasks.
• Familiarity with security best practices, including securing data in transit and managing access controls.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate with development and operations teams.
• Proven track record in project management, with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and deliver results on time.

Nice-to-Haves:

• Experience with container orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).
• Experience with other messaging platforms such as RabbitMQ or Redis.
• Prior experience in setting up self-service configuration management systems using GitOps.
• Experience with Solr and other middleware is a plus.

Who you are:

• A proactive leader who thrives on solving complex operational challenges.
• Detail-oriented and committed to ensuring high availability, performance, and security.
• Passionate about fostering a collaborative and knowledge-sharing environment.
• Comfortable with leading through ambiguity and prioritizing the team’s focus on critical tasks.
• A forward thinker, constantly seeking opportunities to automate and improve processes.