principal engineer, Cloud Foundation Services

Starbucks Coffee Company•Seattle, WA

2d•$177,400 - $295,700•Hybrid

About The Position

Starbucks Technologists work to achieve Starbucks' mission of nurturing the limitless possibilities of human connection using cutting-edge technology. The Cloud Foundation Services (CFS) organization is responsible for designing, building, and operating the foundational cloud capabilities that enable Starbucks teams to develop and scale modern applications. CFS is part of a Unified Cloud Organization (UCO) that provides enterprise cloud platforms, developer tooling, automation frameworks, and governance capabilities, supporting workloads across AWS, Azure, and future cloud technologies. As a Principal Engineer, you will play a critical role in defining and executing the long-term technical vision for CFS. You will influence cloud strategy across UCO, drive platform innovation, establish engineering standards, and partner with senior leaders to build the next generation of cloud capabilities that support Starbucks' digital transformation. This role requires deep technical expertise, strong architectural leadership, exceptional communication skills, and the ability to influence outcomes across multiple engineering teams.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in software engineering, cloud engineering, platform engineering, or infrastructure engineering.
5+ years leading architecture and technical strategy for enterprise-scale platforms.
Demonstrated experience influencing engineering direction across multiple teams and organizations.
Proven experience designing and operating highly available, mission-critical cloud platforms.
Deep expertise in AWS, Azure, or multi-cloud environments.
Strong understanding of platform engineering principles and internal developer platforms.
Expertise in infrastructure as code, cloud automation, and platform lifecycle management.
Experience with Kubernetes, container platforms, cloud networking, observability, and distributed systems.
Ability to lead through influence without direct authority.
Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills.
Experience mentoring senior engineers and technical leaders.

Nice To Haves

Experience building Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs).
Expertise in FinOps and cloud cost optimization strategies.
Experience with AI/ML platform infrastructure.
Experience implementing platform observability and AIOps capabilities.
Background in large-scale retail, e-commerce, or consumer-facing technology organizations.
AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, or cloud security certifications.
Experience with Datadog, Terraform, Backstage, GitHub Actions, or similar cloud-native tooling.
Experience supporting multi-cloud operating models.

Responsibilities

Define and evolve the technical strategy for enterprise cloud platforms and foundational services.
Drive adoption of modern platform engineering practices that improve developer productivity and cloud platform reliability.
Establish architectural standards and technical guardrails for cloud-native application development.
Champion self-service platform capabilities that enable engineering teams to build and deploy applications with greater speed and consistency.
Drive improvements in developer experience through automation, reusable platform services, and streamlined engineering workflows.
Guide platform investments that reduce cognitive load for application teams while improving security and governance.
Partner with Security, Architecture, and Engineering teams to implement secure-by-default cloud solutions.
Define enterprise standards for cloud governance, compliance, operational resilience, and risk management.
Lead initiatives that improve reliability, disaster recovery readiness, observability, and service health across cloud platforms.
Influence technical roadmaps across multiple organizations and programs.
Mentor senior engineers and help establish a culture of engineering excellence.
Lead complex cross-functional initiatives that span multiple cloud platforms and business domains.
Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends, including AI-enabled platform operations, automation, cloud-native architectures, and developer productivity tooling.
Drive strategic investments that position Starbucks for future growth and technology modernization.
Help shape the future vision of the Unified Cloud Organization and Cloud Foundation Services.
Help define the next generation of cloud capabilities for Starbucks.
Operate a cloud platform that enables the Starbucks digital ecosystem.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, and other voluntary insurance benefits.
Short-term and long-term disability.
Paid parental leave.
Family expansion reimbursement.
Paid vacation from date of hire.
Sick time (accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked).
Eight paid holidays.
Two personal days per year.
401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
Discounted company stock program (S.I.P.).
Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock).
Incentivized emergency savings.
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.
Access to other educational opportunities.
Backup care.
DACA reimbursement.