Telemetry Systems Specialist
Manages enterprise data pipelines and observability infrastructure to ensure efficient delivery of operational telemetry.
Overview
A Telemetry Systems Specialist manages the underlying plumbing of a company's monitoring ecosystem. The work involves high-stakes logic design where small errors in routing or filtering can lead to massive data loss or catastrophic cost overruns. The daily rhythm is characterized by balancing urgent troubleshooting of data ingestion bottlenecks with long-term architectural planning to optimize tool performance and vendor costs. This career focuses heavily on the technical nuances of protocols, data serialization, and edge processing.
Professionals in this field thrive when solving abstract structural problems and optimizing complex systems for maximum efficiency. The role requires a meticulous approach to data governance and a deep understanding of how different systems communicate. Success depends on the ability to translate technical requirements from various engineering teams into a cohesive data strategy that satisfies both performance needs and budgetary constraints.
Responsibilities
- Design and deploy centralized observability pipelines using tools such as Cribl Stream or Splunk Heavy Forwarders.
- Implement data reduction strategies to minimize storage costs while maintaining compliance and audit requirements.
- Monitor pipeline health and latency to ensure real-time visibility for operational teams.
- Create and maintain standardized schemas for log normalization across different technology stacks.
- Collaborate with security and compliance teams to mask sensitive data before it reaches monitoring destinations.
- Automate the deployment and scaling of telemetry infrastructure using infrastructure-as-code principles.
- Evaluate and integrate new data sources into the existing monitoring architecture.
Qualifications
- Professional experience managing large-scale distributed logging and monitoring architectures.
- Expert-level proficiency with observability platforms such as Splunk, Elastic, or Datadog.
- Deep understanding of data routing tools and stream processing technologies.
- Strong scripting skills in Python, Go, or JavaScript for pipeline customization and automation.
- Solid grounding in Linux system administration and container orchestration via Kubernetes.
- Comprehensive knowledge of networking protocols including TCP/IP, UDP, and TLS.
Nice to have
- Official certifications in specific enterprise observability tools like Splunk Architect or Cribl Certified Administrator.
- Experience with cloud-native monitoring stacks including Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry.
- Background in financial modeling to forecast and manage data ingestion and storage budgets.
Work environment
- Standard work week is typically 40 hours with occasional on-call rotation for critical pipeline failures.
- The role utilizes distributed computing environments and cloud infrastructure platforms.
- Work is performed in a collaborative technical setting often involving cross-departmental coordination.
- Tools include version control systems, CI/CD pipelines, and advanced log analysis software.
Benefits & growth
- Compensation typically includes a competitive base salary, performance bonuses, and stock options.
- Career progression often leads to roles such as Principal Observability Architect or Director of Platform Engineering.
- Opportunities for professional development through vendor-specific training and industry conferences are standard.
- The high demand for data management skills provides strong job security and upward mobility in the tech sector.
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