Cloud Interviews

AWS, learn foundational networking, learn how DNS works, routing, ip subnetting, OSI 7 layer
model. Encryption, VLANs

infrastructure as code

Terraform

Packer

Ansible

DNS / Linux

Couchbase
# Previous Experience
#Behavioral
# Debugging
# DSA – Heap Sort
# Big Data
# Large Files
# OS
# Networks
# Database
# System Design
# Cloud

ystem design cheat sheet for interviews and revision of basics I wish I had when I was
preparing for my interviews.

• Key Fundamentals:
1. Scalability: https://lnkd.in/gpge_z76
2. Latency vs Throughput: https://lnkd.in/g_amhAtN
3. CAP Theorem: https://lnkd.in/g3hmVamx
4. ACID Transactions: https://lnkd.in/gMe2JqaF
5. Rate Limiting: https://lnkd.in/gWsTDR3m
6. API Design: https://lnkd.in/ghYzrr8q
7. Strong vs Eventual Consistency: https://lnkd.in/gJ-uXQXZ
8. Distributed Tracing: https://lnkd.in/d6r5RdXG
9. Synchronous vs. asynchronous communications: https://lnkd.in/gC3F2nvr
10. Batch Processing vs Stream Processing: https://lnkd.in/g4_MzM4s
11. Databases: https://lnkd.in/gti8gjpz
12. Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling: https://lnkd.in/gAH2e9du
13. Caching: https://lnkd.in/gC9piQbJ
14. Distributed Caching: https://lnkd.in/g7WKydNg
15. Load Balancing: https://lnkd.in/gQaa8sXK
16. SQL vs NoSQL: https://lnkd.in/g3WC_yxn
17. Database Scaling: https://lnkd.in/gAXpSyWQ
18. Data Replication: https://lnkd.in/gVAJxTpS
19. Data Redundancy: https://lnkd.in/gNN7TF7n
20. Database Sharding: https://lnkd.in/gMqqc6x9
21. Database Index's: https://lnkd.in/gCeshYVt
23. WebSocket: https://lnkd.in/g76Gv2KQ
24. API Gateway: https://lnkd.in/gnsJGJaM
25. Message Queues: https://lnkd.in/gTzY6uk8

• Design Patterns:

1. https://lnkd.in/g5xXEsyb
2. https://lnkd.in/gPBKWucA
3. https://lnkd.in/gBmu2Z7h
4. https://lnkd.in/gHtg_wZ6
5. https://lnkd.in/gVVSCYvN
6. https://lnkd.in/gQ3ZCNgX
7. https://lnkd.in/gFbuxsQZ
8. https://lnkd.in/gF-tRnQR
9. https://lnkd.in/gJBUrcgm
10. https://lnkd.in/gCkgTjQh
11. https://lnkd.in/gPJCscbj
12. https://lnkd.in/gzJDEMt9
13. https://lnkd.in/g6Ma6VyB
14. https://lnkd.in/gPwejHqP
15. https://lnkd.in/gxqrdgBw
16. https://lnkd.in/gp7neH2D
17. https://lnkd.in/gXYHNniN
18. https://lnkd.in/gm6qqNPc
19. https://lnkd.in/gqjWa9tw
20. https://lnkd.in/g2MBCiE3
21. https://lnkd.in/gKjhZ8cK
22. https://lnkd.in/gRB_kBZS
23. https://lnkd.in/g7k9wJkX
24. https://lnkd.in/gYz9Nsvi
25. https://lnkd.in/gKd_zK-N
26. https://lnkd.in/ggZJR3a3
27. https://lnkd.in/g3E_rGrA
28. https://lnkd.in/gsbetRE3
29. https://lnkd.in/gczTCFNp
30. https://lnkd.in/gh7b4bDt

• Architecture Patterns
1. Event-Driven Architecture: https://lnkd.in/dp8CPvey
2. Client-Server Architecture: https://lnkd.in/dAARQYzq
3. Serverless Architecture: https://lnkd.in/gQNAXKkb
4. Microservices Architecture: https://lnkd.in/gFXUrz_T
--

Dynamic Programming
1. https://lnkd.in/eWbVc2EY
2. https://lnkd.in/eMJc6FFx
3. https://lnkd.in/ebdSXE7T
4. https://lnkd.in/eQFyt-FB
5. https://lnkd.in/eVX2kq-7
6. https://lnkd.in/e5e8VDDM
7. https://lnkd.in/eZdsPSax
8. https://lnkd.in/ecSMYtGp
9. https://lnkd.in/eN-P-MsM
10. https://lnkd.in/e26yJabc
11. https://lnkd.in/exWeY6CC

Strings
1. https://lnkd.in/ejjJ_8cx
2. https://lnkd.in/eEYze3yB
3. https://lnkd.in/euVfY5iH
4. https://lnkd.in/eZkiKrx2
5. https://lnkd.in/eaa4syG6
6. https://lnkd.in/exeASjz4
7. https://lnkd.in/eUvzRPzd
8. https://lnkd.in/ezCMekqv
9. https://lnkd.in/e2NxmNgi
10. https://lnkd.in/eR6y-Bm7

Tree
1. https://lnkd.in/e64kBRac
2. https://lnkd.in/ehp4PNEY
3. https://lnkd.in/ep8VubDn
4. https://lnkd.in/ew6hcqzt
5. https://lnkd.in/eiyJzPSx
6. https://lnkd.in/es7a7eV2
7. https://lnkd.in/ehWHPyJn
8. https://lnkd.in/ef3acviH
9. https://lnkd.in/eEFvqcCZ
10. https://lnkd.in/eFDPuf63
11. https://lnkd.in/edKznwGv
12. https://lnkd.in/e2-74Vgq
13. https://lnkd.in/e3n8snkn
14. https://lnkd.in/eKKgX25x

DSA was extremely hard for me initially until I found these 16 problem-solving patterns.
These are game-changers!

1) https://lnkd.in/giASrwds

2) https://lnkd.in/gjatQ5pK

3) https://lnkd.in/gBfWgHYe

4) https://lnkd.in/g9csxVa4

5) https://lnkd.in/gbpRU46g

6) https://lnkd.in/gcnBActT

7) https://lnkd.in/gKEm_qUK

8) https://lnkd.in/gVkQX5vA

9) https://lnkd.in/gKja_D5H

10) https://lnkd.in/gKE6w7Jb

11) https://lnkd.in/gdYahWVN

12) https://lnkd.in/gmMMST5J

13) https://lnkd.in/gkNvEi8j

14) https://lnkd.in/gPgpsgaQ

15) https://lnkd.in/gd4ekfQe

16) https://lnkd.in/gMZJVkFf

30 System Design lessons I want to give you:

- Design clear & secure APIs

- Use auto scaling for traffic spikes
- Index databases to optimize reads
- Assume failures. Make it fault-tolerant
- Partition and shard data for large datasets
- Shard SQL databases for horizontal scaling
- Use CDNs to reduce latency for global users
- Use websockets for real-time communication
- Use write-through cache for write-heavy apps
- Use an API gateway for multiple microservices
- Use microservices over monoliths for scalability
- Denormalize databases for read-heavy workloads
- Use SQL for structured data and ACID transactions
- Use load balancers for traffic distribution and availability
- Implement data replication and redundancy for fault tolerance
- Clarify functional and non-functional requirements before designing
- Add functionality only when needed. Avoid over-engineering
- Use rate limiting to prevent overload and DOS attacks
- Use heartbeats/health checks for failure detection
- Use the circuit breaker pattern to prevent failures
- Use message queues for async communication
- Make operations idempotent to simplify retries
- Use read-through cache for read-heavy apps
- Use event-driven architecture for decoupling
- Use async processing for non-urgent tasks
- Use data lakes or warehouses for analytics
- Prefer horizontal scaling for scalability
- No perfect solution—only trade-offs
- Use NoSQL for unstructured data
- Use blob storage for media files

Top 10 Database Scaling Techniques You Should Know:

1. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠: Create indexes on frequently queried columns to speed up data retrieval.

2. 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: Upgrade your database server by adding more CPU, RAM, or storage
to handle increased load.

3. 𝐂𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: Store frequently accessed data in-memory (e.g., Redis, Memcached) to reduce
database load and improve response time.

4. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: Distribute data across multiple servers by splitting the database into smaller,
independent shards, allowing for horizontal scaling and improved performance.

5. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Create multiple copies (replicas) of the database across different servers,
enabling read queries to be distributed across replicas and improving availability.

6. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Fine-tune SQL queries, eliminate expensive operations, and

leverage indexes effectively to improve execution speed and reduce database load.

7. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: Reduce the overhead of opening/closing database connections

by reusing existing ones, improving performance under heavy traffic.

8. 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Split large tables into smaller, more manageable parts
(partitions), each containing a subset of the columns from the original table.

9. 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Store data in a redundant but structured format to minimize

complex joins and speed up read-heavy workloads.

10. 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬: Pre-compute and store results of complex queries as separate
tables to avoid expensive recalculation, reducing database load and improving response
times.

Books
1) Clean Code
2) Head First Design Patterns
3) Designing Data-Intensive Applications
4) Building Microservices
5) Designing Web APIs

0 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬

Microservices patterns are design strategies that help developers create, build, and manage
microservices architectures. These patterns solve common issues that come up when working
with microservices, like finding services, communication, and ensuring systems stay reliable.

Here's a simple explanation of the top 10 microservices patterns:

𝐀𝐏𝐈 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Acts as the single entry point for all client requests, directing
them to the right microservice and handling tasks like authentication and load balancing.

𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Monitors the health of services, stopping requests to failing
microservices, and rerouting them to backups to prevent system-wide failures.

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Keeps a central list of all microservices, making it easier to
find and coordinate them through load balancing and health checks.

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Manages how services interact with each other, handling service
discovery, balancing, security, and monitoring.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Encourages communication through events,

where microservices publish and subscribe to events, enabling loose coupling and
asynchronous interaction.

𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Manages transactions that span multiple services by breaking them into
steps, with the ability to undo steps if something goes wrong.

𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐤𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Isolates microservices in separate containers or virtual machines to

contain failures and prevent them from affecting other parts of the system.

𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Pairs each microservice with a dedicated container to handle tasks like
logging and security, allowing the main service to focus on its core job.

𝐂𝐐𝐑𝐒 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Separates data handling into two parts: one for reading (query) and one for
writing (update), improving performance and scalability.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: Helps transition from a monolithic system to microservices by

gradually adding new services and phasing out old ones without disrupting the system.

A successful candidate will have 5+ years of experience with backend and mid-tier services
using Spring Boot, REST API, Java, Spark, BigQuery, BigTable technologies

• At least 2 years of experience designing and building highly scalable

distributed services is required
• Strong understanding of real time streaming technologies Kafka, GCP Pub
Sub
• Hands on development in data-driven applications using Spring Boot and
other relevant technologies.
• Hands-on experience in tuning and writing scalable sql queries in RDBMS
(Oracle) and analytical stores
• In-depth knowledge of GCP services (BigQuery, BigTable, Cloud Storage and
DataProc)
 • Knowledge on Python, machine learning, deep learning, and statistical
modelling preferred
• Knowledge on generative AI techniques (LLMs) preferred
• Knowledge on ML libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras) preferred
Design and implement core components of our distributed workflow engine that orchestrates
cross-product workflows such as:

 Employee lifecycle management (onboarding, transfers, offboarding)

 Payroll processing and compliance operations
 Benefits enrollment and management
 Device and app provisioning
 Security and access management
 Build robust platform features including:
 Workflow state management and persistence
 Task scheduling and dispatching systems
 Workflow versioning and compatibility layers
 Distributed consistency and consensus mechanisms
 Retry handling and error recovery systems
 Develop developer tooling that enables Rippling's product teams to:
 Author complex workflows as code
 Debug and monitor workflow executions
 Handle versioning and deployment of workflow definitions
 Integrate new products into existing workflows
 Drive architectural decisions that impact:
 System scalability to support rapid customer growth
 Fault tolerance for business-critical operations
 Data consistency across multiple products
 Developer productivity across Rippling's engineering teams

What You Will Need

 8+ years of experience in backend software development, with significant exposure to

distributed systems
 Strong knowledge of distributed systems concepts:
 Consensus algorithms (e.g., Raft, Paxos)
 Eventual consistency and strong consistency models
 Failure detection and recovery mechanisms
 State machine replication
 Event sourcing and CQRS patterns
 Experience with:
 Building highly available, fault-tolerant systems
 Database internals and persistence layers
 Message queues and event streaming platforms
 Microservice architectures
 API design and SDK development

Nice to Have
  Experience with workflow engines or business process orchestration (e.g., Temporal,
Cadence, Apache Airflow)
 Experience with GoLang (primary language of our orchestration engine)
 Contributions to open-source projects in distributed systems
 Experience with cloud-native technologies (Kubernetes, containers)
 Background in building developer tools or platform infrastructure
 Comfortable developing scalable and extendable core services used in many products.

15+ years of experience in software development, focusing on big data processing, real-time
serving and distributed low latency systems

Expert in multiple distributed technologies (e.g. Spark/Storm, Kafka, Key Value Stores,
Caching, Solr, Druid, etc.)
Proficient in Scala or Java and Full Stack application development.
Deep knowledge in Hadoop ecosystem, like HDFS, Hive, MapReduce, presto etc.
Advanced knowledge of complex software design, distributed system design, design
patterns, data structures and algorithms.
Experience working as a Machine learning engineer closely collaborating with data
scientists.
Experience working with ML frameworks like TensorFlow and ML feature engineering.
Experience in one or more public cloud technologies like GCP, Azure, etc.
Excellent debugging and problem-solving capability.
Experience in working in large teams using CI/CD and agile methodologies.
Domain expertise in Ad Tech systems is a plus.
Experience working with financial applications is a plus.

Excellent team player with strong coding, analytical and problem-solving skills

Hands-on experience with cloud distributed systems and high scale designs and in
developing high performance distributed software applications
Strong proficiency in Golang or Python
Hands-on experience in NoSQL, SQL databases
Familiarity with event-driven architecture and message queues like Kafka, RabbitMQ
Experience with backend development (Rest APIs, Databases, Serverless computing)
of distributed cloud applications.
Proficiency in Docker and Kubernetes ecosystems
Knowledge of infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform
Experience with CI/CD processes
Good understanding of public cloud design considerations and limitations in areas of
microservice architectures, security, global network infrastructure, distributed systems,
and load balancing with strong cloud service trouble-shooting skills.
Working knowledge of TCP/IP and Networking is plus
Experience with cloud deployments on platforms like Azure, AWS, and GCP
M.S/B.S degree in Computer Science or equivalent and 8+ years of relevant
experience required.
High energy and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment with a can-do
attitude

Extensive experience with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and understanding of various cloud
storage abstraction layers to select the right technology for the application storage needs,
with a focus on designing solutions that meet the performance requirements at an optimal
cost.

Experience supporting large scale, highly available, production Cloud Storage

deployments in public and private cloud environments.
Experience with any combination of Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, S3,
Azure managed disks, Google persistent disks.
Experience with cloud storage services, resource management, and cloud
architecture.
Experience in troubleshooting issues during an incident and drive down MTTR across
the platform
Experience with enterprise storage solutions (such as Pure, NetApp, Portworx) is
desirable.
Experience with software defined storage systems such as Ceph is an added
advantage.
Experience with software development skills using Python/Go.
Experience with Containers (Kubernetes, Docker, etc.)
Experience in Architecting infra solutions for applications
Experience with monitoring, reporting tools and data analytics.
Experience with managing cloud budgets and tools for analysis.
Good understanding of clustered/distributed systems.
Experience working with cloud deployments (scaling, resiliency, load balancing etc.)
and solid understanding of Service Monitoring, KPI, SLA, Disaster Recovery.
Deep experience with the Linux ecosystem, automation of common tasks, and
configuration of systems monitoring tools.
Experience with capacity/performance management, monitoring and tuning.
Experience with Network Storage, Replication and Backups (SAN, iSCSI, NFS, etc.) is a
plus.
Strong interpersonal skills to coordinate with other organizations across the business
while managing customer expectations.
Bachelor’s or master's degree in CS or similar field of study OR work equivalent
Work equivalent of 8+ years of experience in cloud & storage, and more than 15
years of work experience in software engineering industry.

Very high proficiency with Unix/Linux, TCP/IP, DNS, load balancers, autoscaling,
file systems and different types of data stores.

Knowledge and experience in data lakes, data warehouses or Spark is preferred.

Extensive experience in building network monitoring, diagnostics,
troubleshooting, and automation infrastructure using various
interfaces such as SSE, gNMI, gRPC, SNMP, SNMP Trap, REST,
RESTCONF, NETCONF, sFlow, and NetFlow

•In-depth knowledge of networking, including TCP/IP, common

protocols, routing, switching, STP, BGP, OSPF, DNS, IPAM, DHCP,
 LLDP, and DPI, combined with hands-on experience with tools for
packet capture and sniffing such as Wireshark and tcpdump
4+ years of experience in ETL orchestration and workflow management tools like Airflow

Expert in database fundamentals, SQL, data reliability practices and distributed

computing
4+ years of experience with the Distributed data/similar ecosystem (Spark, Presto)
and streaming technologies such as Kaa/Flink/Spark Streaming

Proven results applying ML and other data-driven techniques appropriately to solve difficult
optimization problems

Experience with open-source frameworks and technologies like AWS, NoSQL, Big Data
Technologies (Flink, Spark, Kafka, Elastic Search, Hive, Iceberg, Hudi etc.)
Expe

Familiarity in Big Data technologies like Hive, Kafka, Hadoop, SQL, developing APIs

Experience working with data pipeline authoring system, such as Airflow, Flyte, DBT
You have 8+ years of experience designing, developing and launching backend systems at
scale using languages like Python or Kotlin.

You have experience developing fault-tolerant, multi-region online backend systems

and an extensive track record of developing highly available distributed systems using
technologies like AWS, MySQL, Spark and Kubernetes.
You have experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and/or other cloud providers
like Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure.
You have familiarity with Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA). We use technologies
such as Kubernetes, Docker, gRPC, Envoy, Istio, Celery/RabbitMQ, and NGINX, but we
are always looking for new technologies to adopt.
You have experience delivering major features, system components or deprecating
existing functionality in a system through the definition of a technical and execution
plan. You write high quality code that is easily understood and used by others.
You thrive in ambiguity, and are comfortable moving from low level language idioms
all the way to the architecture of large systems to understand how they work.
Your growth and impact trajectory demonstrates that you have mastered gathering
and iterating on feedback from your engineering and cross-functional peers.
You have strong verbal and written communication skills that support effective
collaboration with our global engineering team.
This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree in
a related field.

Strong Engineering Fundamentals:

Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Demonstrable experience in distributed systems design and implementation.
Proven track record of delivering early-stage projects under tight deadlines.
 Expertise in using cloud-based services, such as, elastic compute, object
storage, virtual private networks, managed database, etc.
AI/ML Expertise:
Experience in Generative AI (Large Language Models, Multimodal).
Familiarity with AI infrastructure, including training, inference, and ETL
pipelines.
Software Engineering Skills:
Experience with container runtimes (e.g., Kubernetes) and microservices
architectures.
Experience using REST APIs and common communication protocols, such as
gRPC.
Demonstrated experience in the software development cycle and familiarity
with CI/CD tools.
Preferred Qualifications:
Proficiency in Golang or Python for large-scale, production-level services.
Contributions to open-source AI projects such as VLLM or similar frameworks.
Performance optimizations on GPU systems and inference frameworks.
Personal Attributes:
Proactive and collaborative approach with the ability to work autonomously.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Passion for building cutting-edge AI products and solving challenging technical
problems.

Disney+ Hotstar Python interview questions for Data Engineer 2025.

1. How would you implement a priority queue in Python without using built-in libraries?

2. Given a large dataset, how would you identify and handle missing values using Pandas?

3. Explain how you would handle exceptions in a Python-based ETL pipeline to ensure data
integrity.

4. What strategies would you employ to optimize the performance of a Python script
processing terabytes of data?

5. Discuss the differences between threading and multiprocessing in Python. When would you
use each in data engineering tasks?

6. How would you use Python to extract data from a RESTful API that requires authentication
and rate limiting?

7. Compare and contrast JSON and Avro formats. How would you use Python to convert data
between these formats?
8. What approaches would you take to unit test a Python function that transforms data within
a pipeline?

9. How would you implement logging in a Python application to monitor data pipeline
performance and errors?

10. Describe how you would use Python to validate incoming data against a predefined
schema before processing.

11. Using Python, how would you efficiently load a large CSV file into a PostgreSQL database?

12. Explain how you would implement a real-time data processing solution in Python using
tools like Kafka or Spark Streaming.

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or

equivalent experience.

 15+ years of proven experience building sophisticated applications and APIs in Cloud
and hybrid cloud environments at large scale preferably in Python.
 Familiarity with gen AI application building, search and chatbots
 Proven expertise of performance, reliability in sophisticated distributed systems and
the teams that build them.
 Strong proficiency in multiple programming languages and technologies relevant to AI
and system development.
 Proven track record to lead sophisticated projects and deliver results in a fast-paced,
multifaceted environment.
 Technical leadership designing products as well as mentoring and developing high
preforming teams.
 Extremely motivated, highly passionate, and curious about new technologies. Take
pride in your work and strive to achieve incredible results and possess superb
communication and planning skills.
 Has delivered software in a cloud context and is familiar with the patterns and process
of managing cloud infrastructure.
 Excellent leadership, problem-solving, analytical and communication skills, capable of
inspiring and leading a technical team.

Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd

 Experience enhancing enterprise efficiency and employee experience through the

effective use of Generative AI based solutions.
 Fascinated by unique and difficult problems - resilient and persistent in the pursuit of
solutions.
  Experience with Cloud Platforms, experience with Kubernetes and Docker.
 Self-motivation and a drive to get things to “done”.
 Excellent programming, debugging, performance analysis, and test design skills using
python is a plus.

5+ years of experience in data platform engineering, with a focus on data pipeline

optimization.

Proven expertise in ElasticSearch, Databricks, ScyllaDB, and Kubernetes.

Experience with AWS cost optimization.
Solid understanding of distributed systems, databases, and performance tuning.
Strong analytical skills and a data-driven approach to problem-solving.
Excellent collaboration and communication skills.