lead engineer, Platform (Seattle, WA)

Starbucks Coffee Company•Seattle, WA

11h•$152,500 - $254,100•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Engineer, Platform contributes to Starbucks’ success by delivering high-quality, reliable, and stable technologies and security capabilities for an internal cloud-based platform used by Starbucks Technology. The position is accountable for platform installation, configuration, monitoring, analysis, maintenance, and technical support. Engineers on the team use modern platform development and operations practices, including Infrastructure as Code (IaC), container-based build and deployment tooling, and custom Kubernetes resources and controllers. The role provides technical leadership across platform engineering, operations, security, and delivery. It leads build and release processes, deployment strategies, monitoring and telemetry, high-availability support, automation, and security control implementation. The Lead Engineer partners across business and technology teams, mentors engineers, supports vendor relationships, and ensures architectural solutions and system configurations meet company standards and regulatory requirements such as PCI. The role is onsite four days per week. Starbucks describes a broad benefits program for partners and their families, including insurance, paid leave, retirement and stock programs, tuition coverage, and other resources.

Requirements

6–8 years of professional industry experience in software development and technical leadership.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
Advanced Kubernetes experience.
Strong background in security implementation and compliance frameworks.

Nice To Haves

7+ years of experience in system administration, network administration, and systems engineering, with demonstrated leadership experience.
7+ years of experience in one or more of C, C++, Java, Python, Go, Perl, or Ruby.
Ability to lead teams in debugging and optimizing code and automating routine tasks.
Experience designing, analyzing, and troubleshooting large-scale distributed systems across multiple domains.
Advanced knowledge of application development and support for complex development environments.
Extensive experience with cloud computing platforms such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google App Engine.
High proficiency in TCP/IP networking, architecture, and core technologies such as DNS, routing, and iptables.
Experience building and/or deploying containers.
Experience designing and implementing Kubernetes Controllers and Operators in Go.
Experience mentoring and leading technical teams.
Ability to facilitate cross-functional collaboration and influence without authority.

Responsibilities

Communicate verbally, in writing, and visually, and partner with leadership on platform communications.
Establish and lead collaborative relationships with business and technology partners.
Provide technical leadership and mentor development team members to resolve developer issues promptly and accurately.
Lead engineering of build and release processes and deployment strategies.
Manage and partner with technology vendors to deliver business objectives and influence vendor product roadmaps.
Lead research and recommend standards, products, and services across multiple domains.
Ensure application and infrastructure architectural solutions are stable, secure, and compliant with company standards and practices.
Direct implementation of service monitoring across platforms to support continuous availability and operational continuity of critical systems.
Lead high-availability operational support initiatives and drive automation solutions across the environment.
Oversee implementation of deep telemetry capabilities to provide ongoing success and performance metrics.
Lead and participate in designing and implementing security controls to meet compliance controls.
Uphold company policies and legal and regulatory requirements, including PCI.
Maintain accountability for system configurations and baselines supporting secure application development software control best practices and standards.
Mentor less experienced engineers in technical, business, and soft-skills areas.
Lead complex project decomposition, planning, and estimation efforts.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Basic and supplemental life insurance and other voluntary insurance benefits.
Short-term and long-term disability.
Paid parental leave and family expansion reimbursement.
Paid vacation from date of hire and sick time accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked.
Eight paid holidays and two personal days per year.
401(k) retirement plan with employer match for eligible partners.
Discounted company stock program (S.I.P.) and Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock).
Incentivized emergency savings and financial well-being tools.
100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan.
Student loan management resources and access to other educational opportunities.
Backup care and DACA reimbursement.