russell.ballestrini.net/content/pages/cover-letters/2026-01-05-redpanda-software-engineer-russell-ballestrini.rst

Redpanda - Software Engineer
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:date: 2026-01-05

.. Skipped - Go/Connect role expired, remaining roles require heavy C++/Raft

To Redpanda:

Streaming data infrastructure is where I want to be. The shift toward agentic systems makes reliable, low-latency data planes more critical than ever, & Redpanda is building the foundation that enables it.

My distributed systems experience:

**Messaging infrastructure at scale**: At Remind (2017-2020), I managed RabbitMQ infrastructure handling millions of messages daily for 30M users across 60+ microservices. Performed upgrades, migrations, & maintenance on messaging systems where downtime meant teachers couldn't reach students. Understood the operational complexity of message brokers: cluster management, partition strategies, consumer lag, & the subtle bugs that emerge under load.

**High-throughput systems**: Built infrastructure supporting real-time messaging during COVID-19 lockdowns when our platform became critical for distance learning. Managed Elasticsearch clusters for search & analytics workloads. Designed systems where latency mattered & reliability was non-negotiable.

**Infrastructure engineering**: 15+ years of AWS (ECS, EC2, RDS, DynamoDB, SQS), infrastructure-as-code (CloudFormation, Terraform), & observability (introduced Datadog at Remind). At Cofense (2020-2022), worked in security-focused environments where data handling required careful attention to compliance & auditability.

I'll be direct about gaps: my C++ experience is limited, & I haven't implemented consensus protocols like Raft. My strength is in the surrounding ecosystem: operations, integrations, observability, & the developer experience layer. If you're hiring for roles closer to the Connect team (Go-based connectors, cloud integrations) or platform/operations work, that's where I'd add the most value immediately.

What draws me to Redpanda: you're competing on performance & developer experience against entrenched infrastructure. That requires both technical excellence & a deep understanding of what developers actually need. I've built developer tools (open-source libraries, two bootstrapped SaaS products) & I care about that intersection.

Russell Ballestrini

https://russell.ballestrini.net | https://github.com/russellballestrini