SWE & App Arch Sr. Principal Engineer

PepsiCo•Plano, TX

About The Position

Senior Principal Engineer provides senior technical and people leadership for one or more engineering domains within Digital Product Applications (DPA). This role owns delivery outcomes at scale, leads multiple teams or managers, and remains technically credible through hands‑on engineering involvement, particularly on complex, high‑impact initiatives. Demonstrates hands‑on expertise in modern software engineering, maintaining deep technical credibility through active participation in design, architecture, and selective coding on complex or critical initiatives. Leads by example by engaging in architecture reviews, design reviews, and code reviews, ensuring adherence to enterprise engineering standards and best practices. Partners with Tech Leads and Architects to solve the hardest technical problems, unblock teams, and guide key technical decisions rather than remaining purely managerial. Brings deep understanding of data structures, algorithms, object‑oriented design, and architecture patterns to influence high‑quality system design at scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (Master’s or PhD preferred).
10+ years of relevant software development and engineering management experience.
4+ years of people management experience, with 2+ years managing multiple managers/teams.
Hands-on expertise in React.js, React Native, and Node.js development.
Full stack engineering experience with Proficiency in JavaScript, Java, Spring/Spring Boot, messaging etc.
Deep knowledge of data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design, and architectural patterns.
Strong understanding of cloud computing platforms (Azure preferred).
Metrics-backed decisions during all phases of SDLC
Working knowledge of microservices architecture, distributed caching, message queues, and database technologies (RDBMS, NoSQL, Key-Value Stores).
Experience with high-throughput, mission-critical, 24x7 cloud-native distributed systems.
Strong problem-solving skills, ability to manage multiple projects, and a passion for building scalable software solutions.
Strong verbal and written English communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with global teams.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of react native mobile development in IOS will be a plus.

Responsibilities

Create the vision and guide a team of engineers to build and support digital products and services Software Engineering across S&T core priorities
Drive partnerships with User Experience, Product Management, IT, Data & Analytics, Emerging Tech, Innovation, and Process Engineering teams to deliver the Digital Products portfolio
Develop software development strategy utilizing industry standards. Create roadmap and timing of implementation of the roadmap based on business requirements and strategy.
Lead multi-discipline, high-performance work teams distributed across remote locations effectively. Build, manage, develop, and mentor a team of engineers.
Develop and expand engineering capabilities through a customer obsessed, services-driven digital solutions platform that leverages data and AI to deliver automated and personalized experiences
Manage and appropriately escalate delivery impediments, risks, issues, and changes tied to the engineering initiatives to the stakeholders
Interact with key business partners to recommend solutions that best meet the strategic needs of the business
Provide technical direction across multiple teams or platforms
Guide architecture decisions for cloud‑native, distributed, and high‑throughput systems
Ensure engineering rigor across SDLC using metrics‑backed decision making
Lead and develop engineering managers and senior engineers
Build scalable team models, talent pipelines, and succession plans
Foster a strong engineering culture focused on quality and accountability
Own delivery commitments, risk management, and escalation for major initiatives
Ensure reliability, availability, and security of production platforms
Drive continuous improvement across performance, stability, and cost