Principal Engineer - Database and Messaging Platforms

Best Buy • Richfield, MN

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Database and Messaging Technology Platforms team is responsible for the delivery of data resources (databases and messaging) within our technology platform. This team has been focused on transforming these capabilities from vendor licensed and self-managed to cloud native solutions. This strategic, hands-on role shapes multi-year technology strategy, influences architecture, and delivers platforms that accelerate development, improve reliability, and reduce cost. This role is hybrid, which means you will be required to work some days on-site at the Best Buy location listed on this posting and some days virtually from home or other non-Best Buy location. The specific work arrangements vary by role and team. The recruiter or hiring manager will provide more details during the hiring process

Requirements

• 7+ years in software/platform engineering; 5+ years designing large-scale, highly available systems.
• 5+ years of experience in data storage (relational, NoSQL, distributed) and transport (streaming, messaging).
• 5+ years of AWS experience across computer, networking, storage, security, observability.
• 5+ years of experience with IaC, CI/CD, and/or automated testing
• 3+ years of experience with event-driven architecture at scale (MSK, SNS/SQS).
• Excellent communication and risk articulation.

Nice To Haves

• Proven record leading cross-team initiatives.
• Legacy-to-AWS modernization experience.
• SRE practices and observability (CloudWatch, OpenTelemetry).
• Data governance/compliance; secure multi-tenant patterns.
• FinOps and cost-aware architecture.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for critical data platforms and influence architecture across teams.
• Anticipate trends (serverless, event-driven, data mesh) to keep Best Buy ahead.
• Build paved paths for data storage/transport using AWS services (Aurora, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, MSK, SNS/SQS).
• Deliver reference architectures, SDKs, IaC modules (CloudFormation/CDK/Terraform), and self-service workflows.
• Drive modernization and migration from legacy systems to AWS.
• Ship large-scale, secure, observable platform components (multi-region, DR, schema evolution).
• Automate to reduce toil; embed best practices (testing, SRE, OpenTelemetry, CloudWatch, CI/CD).
• Champion security-by-default (IAM, Secrets Manager, segmentation, compliance).
• Lower TCO via right-sizing, autoscaling, lifecycle policies, and architectural simplification.
• Provide cost insights and guardrails aligning spend with business value.
• Act as a technical leader and multiplier; mentor engineers and sponsor community initiatives.
• Drive consensus and communicate decisions clearly.
• Operates effectively in complex environments, shapes architecture and multi-year strategies.
• Ships major services and infrastructure; mentors and teaches new patterns and tools.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Generous employee discount
• Physical and mental well-being support
• Best Buy offers a range of benefits to support your overall well-being, as outlined in the Benefits Guide . Eligibility may vary.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees