Apache Kafka jobs in 2026 — demand, top roles hiring, and related skills
As of 2026-09-30, Apache Kafka appears in 883 job postings indexed by Skillenai over the past 90 days — Software Engineer has the most postings mentioning Apache Kafka, with demand share down 0.5% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-09-30
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Frequently asked questions about Apache Kafka
+Is Apache Kafka in demand in 2026?
Yes. Apache Kafka appears in 883 job postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-09-30. Software Engineer accounts for the most postings mentioning Apache Kafka (38.4% of all postings mentioning Apache Kafka).
+What jobs require Apache Kafka?
According to the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-09-30, among roles with at least 20 postings, the highest shares mentioning Apache Kafka are Java Backend Developer (10.5% of that role’s postings mention Apache Kafka), Software Engineering Team Lead (9.1% of that role’s postings mention Apache Kafka), Systems/Software Engineer (8.7% of that role’s postings mention Apache Kafka).
+What skills are commonly paired with Apache Kafka?
Across job postings indexed by Skillenai (90 days ending 2026-09-30), Apache Kafka most often appears alongside Java, Kubernetes, Python, SQL, AWS.
+Where is Apache Kafka most in demand?
As of 2026-09-30, the metro areas posting the most jobs requiring Apache Kafka are Bengaluru, Pune, London, Toronto, Redmond, according to the Skillenai jobs index.
+How can I keep up with new Apache Kafka content and jobs?
Skillenai indexes news, blog posts, and research papers mentioning Apache Kafka alongside the jobs index. You can subscribe to a daily email digest of new Apache Kafka content from your Skillenai account.
+Which skills come before and after Apache Kafka?
The skill-flow chart shows skills documented in adjacent positions across observed employer changes. An outgoing skill is documented in the following position but not the preceding one. These are ideas to explore, not proven prerequisites, acquisition dates, or levels of mastery. Each ribbon counts employer moves with that skill pair; one move can contribute several pairs.
Weekly indexed postings requiring Apache Kafka — last 90 days
Salary distribution
Box = 25th–75th percentile · tick = median · whisker = 10th–90th · USD, annualized
Career paths around Apache Kafka
Skills documented before and after this skill across employer changes.
Historical career profiles · all locations
Skills before Apache Kafka
Skills after Apache Kafka
How to read this chart · view counts
Each side is an independent set of observed employer moves, not the same people followed through three stages. Ribbon widths compare move counts within that side. Internal moves are not included.
The following position documents a skill that the preceding position does not. Skills must be linked to both positions, with clear dates and no overlap. One move can connect several skill pairs. These patterns suggest skills to explore; they do not establish prerequisites, when a skill was learned, or a higher skill level.
Source: Skillenai talent graph, historical career profiles. Historical descriptions and coverage can change. Only the leading published connections are shown.
| Connection | Moves |
|---|---|
| Before: python | 84 |
| Before: sql | 56 |
| Before: Jenkins | 45 |
| Before: Spring Boot | 44 |
| Before: docker | 42 |
| Before: Power BI | 36 |
| Before: RESTful APIs | 35 |
| Before: Java | 34 |
| After: python | 32 |
| After: snowflake | 30 |
| After: Kafka | 30 |
| After: sql | 26 |
| After: docker | 24 |
| After: Tableau | 22 |
| After: Jenkins | 22 |
| After: kubernetes | 21 |
Roles most likely to require Apache Kafka
Among roles with at least 20 postings in the same period.
| Role | Postings mentioning skill | % of role postings mentioning skill |
|---|---|---|
| Java Backend Developer | 4 | 10.5% |
| Software Engineering Team Lead | 2 | 9.1% |
| Systems/Software Engineer | 2 | 8.7% |
| Java Software Engineer | 6 | 7.8% |
| Python Developer | 5 | 7.1% |
| Cloud Data Engineer | 4 | 7.1% |
| Java Backend Engineer | 2 | 6.5% |
| Distributed Systems Engineer | 3 | 4.6% |
| Full Stack Java Developer | 1 | 4.2% |
| Software Engineer, Backend | 1 | 4.2% |
Roles with the most Apache Kafka postings
| Role | Postings mentioning skill | Share of skill postings |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 339 | 38.4% |
| Data Engineer | 99 | 11.2% |
| Solutions Architect | 53 | 6.0% |
| Backend Engineer | 24 | 2.7% |
| Site Reliability Engineer | 24 | 2.7% |
| Backend Software Engineer | 16 | 1.8% |
| Data Architect | 12 | 1.4% |
| Engineering Manager | 12 | 1.4% |
| DevOps Engineer | 11 | 1.2% |
| Data Platform Engineer | 10 | 1.1% |
Top companies posting jobs requiring Apache Kafka
Employers ranked by indexed job postings in the last 90 days.
| Company | Postings · 90 days |
|---|---|
| MongoDB | 54 |
| SpaceX | 30 |
| Cisco | 20 |
| Mastercard | 19 |
| Wise | 18 |
| 13 | |
| Bitpanda | 12 |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 12 |
| Betsson Group | 11 |
| Barclays | 10 |
Job postings indexed over the past 90 days, grouped by resolved employer. Counts are postings, not hires. Companies without a published page appear without a link.
Top metros hiring for Apache Kafka
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | 29 | 3.3% |
| Pune | 24 | 2.7% |
| London | 21 | 2.4% |
| Toronto | 16 | 1.8% |
| Redmond | 15 | 1.7% |
| New York City | 14 | 1.6% |
| Hawthorne | 13 | 1.5% |
| São Paulo | 12 | 1.4% |
| Dublin | 11 | 1.2% |
Skills commonly paired with Apache Kafka
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How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-09-30. Skills are resolved against the Skillenai canonical taxonomy, so the same entity is counted whether a posting writes 'Python', 'Python 3', or 'python'. Role prevalence divides postings mentioning Apache Kafka by all postings for each role in the same window, ranking roles with at least 20 postings. Role distribution divides each role’s Apache Kafka postings by all Apache Kafka postings, including postings without a role. Shares need not sum to 100% for the displayed roles. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-requested skills). Adjusted posting share: 0.4% to 0.4%. Demand share change is the relative percentage change between these adjusted shares. Each employer-and-ATS group has at least 10 postings in each 90-day window; its earlier posting count supplies the same weight in both windows. The panel includes 2,596 identified employers and covers 68% of earlier and 72% of latest indexed postings. Windows: 2026-06-02 to 2026-08-31 and 2026-06-30 to 2026-09-28 (UTC; end dates excluded). The windows overlap by 62 days. Dates reflect indexing, not the employer’s posting date. This measures posting mix, not total hiring or market-wide demand. Matching excludes entrants and exits; changes in crawl completeness within an employer or ATS can still affect the result.
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- entity_id
- 21a17e15b5475e88
- data_as_of
- 2026-09-30
- window_days
- 90
The demand, skills, and geo numbers on this page come from the same Skillenai labor market index that powers our API. Use it for compensation benchmarking, hiring-competition analysis, and skill-adoption tracking.
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