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Splunk Observability Engineer Location: Chicago, IL, USA (Hybrid) Duration: Long Term Contract Synopsis: To design, implement, and optimize a full-stack observability strategy using the Splunk Observability Cloud (formerly SignalFx) and Splunk Enterprise/Cloud. You will ensure that engineering teams have 360-degree visibility into system health, moving the organization from reactive "firefighting" to proactive "pattern-based" incident prevention. Key Responsibilities: Data Orchestration: Architect the ingestion of the "Three Pillars" (Metrics, Logs, Traces) using OpenTelemetry (OTel) collectors. Aggregation Strategy: Develop logic to aggregate high-cardinality data to reduce "noise" while maintaining "signal" for troubleshooting. Analytical Modeling: Use SPL (Search Processing Language) and SignalFlow to perform pattern analysis, detecting anomalies before they trigger traditional threshold alerts. Visual Storytelling: Build executive and technical dashboards that correlate disparate data points (e.g., showing how a spike in 500-errors in Logs relates to a specific span in a Trace). Required Hands on Technical Skills: 1. Telemetry & Data Specialization Logs: Proficiency in "Logging-in-Context." You must be able to link logs directly to trace IDs so developers can jump from a failing trace to the specific line of code in the logs. Metrics: Expertise in SignalFlow (Splunk’s background streaming analytics language). You should know how to calculate percentiles ($P95, P99$), rates of change, and historical averages. Traces: Deep understanding of Distributed Tracing. You must know how to instrument applications (Java, Python, Go) to capture spans and identify bottlenecks in microservices. 2. Pattern Analysis & Aggregation Anomaly Detection: Ability to configure Metric Finder and MDetector using standard deviations or "Mean Absolute Deviation" to find outliers. Data Scrubbing: Skills in using Splunk Ingest Actions or Edge Processors to filter, mask, or aggregate data at the edge to save on license costs and improve search speed. Pattern Discovery: Using Splunk’s machine learning commands (e.g., findkeywords, cluster) to group millions of log events into a few dozen "patterns" for faster root cause analysis. 3. Hands on - Dashboards & Visualization High-Cardinality Handling: Designing dashboards that don’t "break" when viewing thousands of containers. Contextual Drill-downs: Building "Glass Tables" (in ITSI) or Unified Dashboards that allow a user to click a metric and immediately see the associated logs. Frameworks: Familiarity with the Dashboard Studio and JSON-based dashboard definitions for version control (GitOps). Preferred Qualifications & Certifications: DevOps & IAC skills Splunk Cloud Certified Metrics User: Focuses on the metrics and alerting side. Splunk Core Certified Power User: Essential for mastering complex SPL for log analysis. OpenTelemetry Expert: Knowledge of the OTel Collector configuration (receivers, processors, exporters) is currently the most "in-demand" skill for this role.
Here's how to pick the right one and stand out in your application.
144.883Jobs
31.687IN
81%EN
That number is real. WorkMundi's database shows 144,883 open engineer roles across the world. India has the most with 31,687 jobs, followed by the United States with 30,084. If you just finished reading one job ad and felt paralyzed by choice, you're not alone—but this scale is actually an advantage. It means you can afford to be selective.
Start by geography and language. The majority of engineer ads—117,837 of them—have the job posting text written in English. Use that as one filter, but remember: the ad text language tells you nothing about whether the role actually requires you to speak English day-to-day. Read the job description carefully. Then check which countries have the volume you're targeting. Singapore, Poland, and Australia round out the top five after India and the US.
Next, learn who's hiring. Accenture has posted 2,801 engineer roles. andurilindustries, speechify, and jobgether are also actively recruiting. If you're applying to one of these names, research their hiring patterns and interview style before you apply. That homework pays off.
When you interview, expect the question every engineer hears: 'Tell me about a time you had to debug a problem that wasn't in your job description.' Have a specific story ready—not a general one. Name the tools, the deadline pressure, and what you learned. Hiring managers listen for whether you see problem-solving as part of the role itself, not a favour.