engineer principal, Edge Foundation Services - ST (Seattle, WA)
About The Position
The Principal Engineer for Edge Foundation Services will set the technical direction for the full-stack platform powering Starbucks stores worldwide. The platform spans edge compute, deployment, device management, networking, and operational capabilities supporting company-operated, licensed, and franchise locations. The role connects architecture, delivery, and operations to create secure, resilient platforms that perform at global scale and make store technology easier to evolve. The engineer will build foundational services that provide a consistent, scalable runtime across thousands of coffeehouses and give product teams a paved path to deliver new experiences. Working across engineering, product, architecture, security, and operations, the Principal Engineer will guide critical decisions, establish reusable patterns, mentor engineers, and elevate engineering standards. The role will also define how AI capabilities are safely deployed, operated, and scaled in stores, establishing guardrails and platform capabilities that support reliable production use. The position is onsite four days a week. Starbucks provides eligible partners and their families access to a range of health, insurance, leave, financial, and educational benefits.
Requirements
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, including significant technical leadership across complex, large-scale platforms or distributed systems.
- Ability to define technical strategy and architecture, make high-impact design decisions, and guide solutions from concept through production operations.
- Deep expertise building secure, resilient, scalable platforms spanning applications, cloud infrastructure, networking, containers, data stores, observability, and automation.
- Success influencing engineering, architecture, product, security, and operations without relying on direct authority.
- Ability to translate ambiguous business needs and operational constraints into clear technical direction, measurable outcomes, and durable roadmaps.
- Experience mentoring senior engineers, raising engineering standards, and aligning multiple teams around shared architectural patterns and platform capabilities.
- Strong hands-on software engineering background, including coding, code review, and troubleshooting.
- Strong knowledge of AWS or Azure, Kubernetes and Linux containers, infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and modern configuration management practices.
- Experience designing and operating APIs and distributed services using technologies such as REST, gRPC, relational and non-relational data stores, HTTP, DNS, and TCP/IP.
- Experience applying emerging technologies, including AI capabilities, within secure, governed, production-grade platforms.
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Go, Rust, or comparable systems languages.
Responsibilities
- Set the engineering direction for holistic platform solutions that connect architecture, delivery, and operations.
- Lead end-to-end design of secure, resilient, and adaptable infrastructure across compute, networking, containers, and applications.
- Champion automation, GitOps, CI/CD, observability, and operational excellence to enable confident, continuous delivery.
- Mentor engineers, guide high-impact technical decisions, and align architects, product partners, and developers around effective solutions.
- Translate complex technical matters into clear direction, raise engineering standards, and help teams deliver meaningful customer outcomes.
- Define how AI capabilities are safely deployed, operated, and scaled across stores.
- Establish architectural patterns and guardrails that move AI solutions from experimentation to reliable production.
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, sick time, 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.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
