Principal Product Manager, Confluent
$273.3-328k
Offers Bonus & Equity
Data streaming platform
Be an early applicant
Data streaming platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$273.3-328k
Offers Bonus & Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help every organization harness data in motion so they can compete and thrive in the modern world.
Role
Who you are
- Proven ability to own and deliver product strategy for complex cloud data products for customers ranging from data engineers to software developers
- Deep technical expertise in distributed systems, data engineering, and cloud. Domain expertise in streaming technologies such as Kafka, Flink, or Spark is a plus but not required
- Experience leading product development across the entire lifecycle, scaling businesses from early product-market fit to substantial revenue
- 10+ years of experience in product management for a technical software or cloud service product
Desirable
- Hands-on engineering or technical background, including comfort with systems design, API design, and several languages (e.g., Python, Java, Scala, SQL, etc.)
- Experience with open-source software and determining commercialization strategy while building the community
- Track record in data infrastructure, analytics, AI/ML platforms, real-time systems, or streaming systems, especially where the product serves customers with a diversity of technical depth
What the job involves
- This Principal Product Manager role is a high-leverage Individual Contributor position responsible for the complete product strategy and execution for Apache Flink across Confluent Cloud and Platform. This is an ambiguous and technical domain that requires a seasoned leader who can build durable platform capabilities, translate complex systems into clear strategy, and operate independently
- Define and drive the multi-year product strategy and roadmap for Apache Flink across cloud and on-prem products
- Establish structured processes to align product, engineering, GTM, and executive stakeholders
- Identify high-leverage, 0-to-1 product opportunities for Flink and in adjacent areas like AI, data engineering, data warehousing, and event-driven applications
- Define how Confluent Flink offerings will work across Confluent and IBM product portfolio
Our take
Confluent is a commercial company built on top of the open-source Apache Kafka project. Confluent and Kafka have developed a streaming data technology that processes massive amounts of information in real-time. The streaming database technology was developed at LinkedIn as a way of moving massive amounts of messages. The company decided to open-source that tech in 2011, and Confluent launched as the commercial arm in 2014.
While the base open-source component remains available for free download, it doesn’t include the additional tooling the company has built to make it easier for enterprises to use Kafka. Confluent's value add is in those additional tools, including a cloud version of the product and a marketplace for sharing extensions to the platform.
Confluent expanded strategic partnerships with Microsoft and acquired Immerok, and in 2023 expanded its cloud platform. 2024 saw further product expansions with the launch of the Confluent Migration Accelerator, all exemplifying how the company is living up to its name by rocket-boosting the benefits of Apache Kafka integration for companies.
Now, it looks like IBM is eyeing the company for acquisition and Confluent looks to be a natural fit. Long positioned as the real-time backbone behind modern application, Confluent would gain global scale and an even deeper enterprise reach under iBM, while cementing its role at the center of AI-driven architectures. For COnfluent, the deal would marka shift from fast-growing independent disruptor to foundational infrastructure player powering the next wave of enterprise AI.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Apr 2020
$250m
SERIES E
Jan 2019
$125m
SERIES D
Total funding: $455.9m
Company HQ
Old Mountain View, Mountain View, CA
Leadership
Jay Kreps
(Co-Founder & CEO)Prior to co-founding Confluent in 2014, Jay spent 7 years at LinkedIn, holding various roles including Principal Engineer and Principal Staff Engineer.
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