Senior Software Engineer II, Messaging, Cloud
About The Position
You'll help define and deliver the next generation of Kafka-first streaming infrastructure, driving the solution to meet the next company goal for high availability on scale. As a Senior Software Engineer on the Messaging team, you'll build and maintain the streaming infrastructure that powers Life360's real-time features. This role is hands-on and collaborative—you'll design services, write code, troubleshoot production issues, and help shape the team's technical direction. We're looking for someone who enjoys working in a distributed systems environment, values clear communication, and thrives on solving complex problems alongside a small, focused team.
Requirements
- 6+ years of backend software engineering experience
- Strong proficiency with Java and Spring Boot (this is our primary stack)
- Experience with Apache Kafka or similar distributed streaming platforms
- Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts: consistency, fault tolerance, replication, and data durability
- Comfortable with cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred) and containerized deployments
- Problem-solving mindset - You dig into ambiguous problems, ask good questions, and find pragmatic solutions
- Collaborative approach - You communicate clearly, work well across teams, and value diverse perspectives
- Ownership mentality - You take responsibility for your work from design through production and beyond
- Learning orientation - You're comfortable with new technologies and enjoy building expertise over time
- Thoughtful communication - You can explain technical tradeoffs and articulate ideas effectively
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Go (we use it for CLI tools and some services)
- Familiarity with gRPC and Protocol Buffers
- Background in stream processing frameworks (Kafka Streams, Flink)
- Experience with schema registries and schema evolution strategies
- Knowledge of Confluent Platform or Confluent Cloud
- Understanding of CI/CD patterns, GitHub Actions, and artifact management (Maven, Nexus)
- Experience with observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, DataDog)
- Previous work on large-scale platform migrations or infrastructure modernization projects
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain streaming services using Kafka, Spring Boot, and Spring Cloud Stream
- Develop and manage Kafka connectors for data integration (DynamoDB, S3, custom sinks/sources)
- Own schema management and evolution using Protocol Buffers, Schema Registry, and multi-language code generation
- Support ongoing platform migrations, including multi-cluster consumption patterns and infrastructure transitions
- Build monitoring, observability, and operational tooling to ensure system reliability
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams on API design, data contracts, and integration patterns
- Write infrastructure as code using Terraform and automate deployments through CI/CD pipelines
- Participate in on-call rotation and incident response
- Mentor team members and contribute to team processes and technical standards
Benefits
- Competitive pay and benefits.
- Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance plans (100% paid for US employees). We offer supplemental plans for medical and dental for Canadian employees.
- 401(k) plan with company matching program in the US and RRSP with DPSP plan for Canadian employees.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental wellness.
- Flexible PTO and 12 company wide days off throughout the year.
- Learning & Development programs.
- Equipment, tools, and reimbursement support for a productive remote environment.
- Free Life360 Platinum Membership for your preferred circle.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
