ServiceNow: Senior Staff Data Platform Software Engineer (Java Distributed Systems & Kafka) — Hyderabad, India

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow develops an enterprise software platform bringing together data, workflows and AI for business operations. Its employer introduction traces the business to automating a repetitive workplace task and describes a continuing focus on freeing people from routine work. The platform is intended to connect technology with how organisations carry out their processes. This makes workflow automation and the use of information in everyday business activity central themes, rather than a product aimed at only one industry.

The position and its setting

ServiceNow lists Senior Staff Data Platform Software Engineer (Java Distributed Systems & Kafka) in Hyderabad, India, under reference JB0075448. The details below separate the work described by the employer from essential conditions, preferred experience and practical preparation advice.

• Department: Engineering, Infrastructure and Operations
• Employment type: Full-time
• Employer listing date: 22 September 2026
• Brands: ServiceNow

Responsibilities and work described

• Overview
• The Data Platform group builds highly scalable, high‑performance platform capabilities for data‑in‑motion and backend storage systems
• Our customers operate at massive scale, pushing the boundaries of data volume, throughput, and concurrency
• A seasoned IC5 Senior Staff Engineer with deep expertise in distributed systems and Data Lake architectures to drive next‑generation platform innovation
• As an IC5 Senior Staff Engineer, you will architect and deliver large‑scale distributed platform components, lead complex technical initiatives, and define engineering best practices
• Bring leadership, hands-on engineering depth, and the ability to design and operate reliable, scalable, and high‑performance data systems
• Architect, design, and build high‑performance distributed systems and platform components
• Building: distributed systems data ingestion solutions with emphasis on scalability, quality, and operational excellence
• Delivery: high‑quality, clean, modular, and reusable code while enforcing engineering best practices (code reviews, unit testing, automation, design reviews)
• Building: foundational libraries, frameworks, and tools focused on modularity, extensibility, configurability, and maintainability
• Collaboration: across engineering teams to refine requirements and deliver end‑to‑end solutions
• Delivery: technical leadership for projects with significant complexity and risk
• Research, evaluate, and adopt new technologies that enhance platform capabilities
• Troubleshoot and diagnose complex production issues across distributed systems

Essential requirements and candidate background

• Experience Level
• 15–20 years of hands‑on engineering experience in distributed systems, data platforms, or large‑scale backend infrastructure
• Core Engineering Expertise
• Fundamentals in distributed systems architecture, design patterns, and algorithms
• Deep programming expertise in Java, including JVM internals, memory models, and garbage collection
• Experience: JVM performance tuning, profiling, and diagnosing performance bottlenecks
• Understanding: concurrency, networking, sockets, OS internals, and performance optimization
• Hands-on experience building and operating large‑scale distributed systems
• Experience: relational databases such as Oracle, MySQL, or PostgreSQL
• Distributed Systems Expertise
• Experience: large‑scale deployments of distributed systems
• Deep knowledge of replication, fault-tolerant, and HA strategies
• Experience working in DevOps environments to operationalize distributed platforms
• Expertise in designing and architecting platforms using:
• Kubernetes ( workload deployments, upgrades, monitoring and maintenance)
• Expertise in data formats such as Parquet, ORC, and Avro, along with compaction and governance strategies
• Build scalable, fault‑tolerant ingestion and transformation workflows
• Experience integrating Data Lakes with analytics engines, query services, or ML platforms

Preferred experience and additional strengths

• Apache Iceberg (tables, catalogs, schema evolution, metadata management) is a plus
• Apache Kafka (high‑scale clusters, topic/partition strategies, HA) is a plus
• Apache Flink (stateful stream processing, exactly‑once semantics) is a plus
• Apache Spark (batch & streaming jobs, optimization, partitioning) is a plus

Location, schedule and contract conditions

• Work arrangement: Hybrid
• Advertised location: Hyderabad, India

Employer details to confirm

• The employer’s seniority category and its stated experience requirements do not agree. Follow the role-specific requirements above rather than assuming this is a fresher opening.

Pay and application dates

A verified salary figure is not established in this article. An online estimate for another Senior Staff Data Platform Software Engineer (Java Distributed Systems & Kafka) vacancy is not an offer for reference JB0075448; use the employer’s own pay disclosure and recruitment communication.

A closing date is not confirmed in this article. Check the current employer page before submitting: an undated posting can change or be withdrawn.

How to apply to ServiceNow

Applications follow the official employer page linked below.

Open the official ServiceNow posting below and match the title and reference JB0075448.

Compare your qualifications and experience with the essential conditions for the Hyderabad, India position, then read the preferred criteria separately.

Prepare an accurate CV and the supporting items requested in that employer’s application. Provide only information and documents you are authorised to share.

Use the employer’s application option, complete the required fields and review the submission. Retain the acknowledgement when one is provided. Job Alerts World does not receive the application.

Practical preparation: Java

For Java experience, describe the application or service you worked on, its purpose and your own contribution. A useful example connects language knowledge to an actual engineering decision, such as an interface design, a performance issue or a production defect.

Relevant skills

• Java
• Spark
• Kafka
• Kubernetes
• AI/ML
• problem resolution
• maintenance
• Oracle applications