Kafka Administrator (Ansible)

Position Description:

CGI Federal seeks a Kafka Administrator with strong Ansible automation expertise to support the SOHE program. The role focuses on administering Confluent Kafka environments, implementing secure and scalable automation, maintaining observability platforms, and ensuring reliable distributed system operations across multiple environments.

This position will be performed 5 days a week onsite at SSA HQ in Woodlawn, MD

Your future duties and responsibilities:

• Administer production Confluent Kafka clusters, including brokers, ZooKeeper/KRaft, Schema Registry, Kafka Connect, KSQL, and Control Center.

• Deploy, configure, upgrade, and maintain Kafka clusters using Ansible automation.

• Develop, maintain, and troubleshoot Ansible playbooks, roles, and modules for provisioning, configuration management, deployment, and patching.

• Design idempotent Ansible automation for consistent multi environment operations.

• Use Ansible Tower/AWX for workflow orchestration, scheduling, credential management, and RBAC.

• Integrate automation with CI/CD pipelines and Git workflows.

• Write and maintain Bash/Python scripts to support operational automation.

• Manage Linux environments including users/groups, permissions, SELinux, systemd services, and network configuration.

• Implement Kafka security including SSL/TLS, SASL, RBAC, and MDS.

• Architect, deploy, and maintain observability platforms: Prometheus, Thanos, Grafana.

• Build custom dashboards, alerts, and HA monitoring configurations.

• Automate observability stack deployment and configuration using Ansible.

• Troubleshoot Kafka replication, partitioning, consumer lag, and performance issues using observability data.

• Manage Kafka topic lifecycle and connector integrations (IBM MQ, JDBC, Datagen).

• Apply secure automation practices including Ansible Vault and external vault integrations.

• Troubleshoot Ansible related automation and infrastructure issues across distributed systems.

• Automate infrastructure tasks across Linux, Windows, and cloud platforms.

• Integrate automation with DevOps tools like Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, and Git.

• Develop custom automation components using Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages.

• Recommend infrastructure and automation improvements based on environment assessments.

• Migrate manual processes into fully automated workflows.

• Provide technical guidance, training, and best practices to engineering teams on Ansible automation.

Required qualifications to be successful in this role:

• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Public Trust clearance.

• Bachelors degree +7 years experience

• Strong experience administering Confluent Kafka clusters in production environments.

• Proven experience automating Kafka deployment and operations using Ansible.

• Extensive experience developing and debugging Ansible playbooks, roles, and modules.

• Demonstrated ability to design idempotent and scalable automation for multi environment deployments.

• Experience with Ansible Tower/AWX for enterprise automation.

• Proficiency integrating automation with CI/CD and Git workflows.

• Strong scripting experience (Python, Bash).

• Hands on Linux experience including SELinux, systemd, permissions, and networking.

• Experience securing Kafka environments (SSL/TLS, SASL, RBAC, MDS).

• Experience with Prometheus, Thanos, and Grafana for monitoring distributed systems.

• Skill in diagnosing Kafka performance and operational issues using observability tools.

• Experience managing Kafka topics, schemas, and connector integrations.

• Experience implementing secure automation and secrets management with Ansible Vault.

• Experience automating infrastructure in hybrid Linux/Windows/cloud environments.

• Experience integrating automation with DevOps tools such as Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes.

• Demonstrated ability to develop enterprise grade automation solutions.

• Experience assessing environments and implementing optimization strategies.

• Experience converting manual processes into automated workflows.

• Ability to support and train teams on automation best practices.

Desired qualifications/non essential skills required:

• Experience with Confluent Cloud or hybrid Kafka architectures.

• Knowledge of KRaft mode and migration from ZooKeeper.

• Experience with Kubernetes based Kafka deployments (Strimzi, Confluent Operator).

• Performance tuning experience (I/O, JVM, networking).

• Knowledge of federal compliance/security frameworks.

• Experience with AWS, Azure, or GovCloud.

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 $79,600.00 $176,300.00.

CGI Federal's benefits are offered to eligible professionals on their first day of employment to include:

• Competitive compensation

• Comprehensive insurance options

• Matching contributions through the 401(k) plan and the share purchase plan

• Paid time off for vacation, holidays, and sick time

• Paid parental leave

• Learning opportunities and tuition assistance

• Wellness and Well being programs

#CGIFederalJob #LI RJ1

Skills:

• Ansible

• Apache Kafka

• Azure

• Central and Federal Government

• Performance Tuning

What you can expect from us:

Together, as owners, let’s turn meaningful insights into action.

Life at CGI is rooted in ownership, teamwork, respect and belonging. Here, you’ll reach your full potential because…

You are invited to be an owner from day 1 as we work together to bring our Dream to life. That’s why we call ourselves CGI Partners rather than employees. We benefit from our collective success and actively shape our company’s strategy and direction.

Your work creates value. You’ll develop innovative solutions and build relationships with teammates and clients while accessing global capabilities to scale your ideas, embrace new opportunities, and benefit from expansive industry and technology expertise.

You’ll shape your career by joining a company built to grow and last. You’ll be supported by leaders who care about your health and well-being and provide you with opportunities to deepen your skills and broaden your horizons.

Come join our team—one of the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, sex, religion, creed, age, national origin, citizenship status, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, military and veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression, familial status or responsibilities, reproductive health decisions, political affiliation, genetic information, height, weight, or any other legally protected status or characteristics to the extent required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws where we do business.

CGI provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation to apply for a job in the U.S., please email the CGI U.S. Employment Compliance mailbox at US_Employment_Compliance@cgi.com. You will need to reference the Position ID of the position in which you are interested. Your message will be routed to the appropriate recruiter who will assist you. Please note, this email address is only to be used for those individuals who need an accommodation to apply for a job. Emails for any other reason or those that do not include a Position ID will not be returned.

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All CGI offers of employment in the U.S. are contingent upon the ability to successfully complete a background investigation. Background investigation components can vary dependent upon specific assignment and/or level of US government security clearance held. Dependent upon role and/or federal government security clearance requirements, and in accordance with applicable laws, some background investigations may include a credit check. CGI will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrests and conviction records in accordance with all local regulations and ordinances.

CGI will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with CGI’s legal duty to furnish information.