Staff Software Development Engineer

Avalara•UNAVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE

About The Position

As a Staff Software Development Engineer on the Connectors Engineering – SAP Portfolio team, you will serve as the senior hands-on technical resource for complex SAP implementations of AvaTax and related products. You will work directly with Certified Implementation Partners and customer IT, Basis, and ABAP teams to diagnose and resolve deployment issues across SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, and SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud. The role owns issues end-to-end, resolving them directly in most cases and escalating to Connector Engineering only when a product defect is confirmed and supported by diagnostic evidence. The position combines SAP troubleshooting and debugging, integration and API diagnostics, client- and partner-facing technical engagement, and collaboration with engineering and SAP Tax Technology teams. You will contribute runbooks, troubleshooting guidance, training, and roadmap input, while helping increase the team's troubleshooting capability. You will also identify and implement AI-driven improvements to technical triage and support workflows, using appropriate safeguards and deterministic fallbacks for compliance-critical tax processes. The role requires autonomy, accountability, and sound judgment on high-visibility implementations where delays may affect go-live dates and partner relationships.

Requirements

B.S. in Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
8–12+ years of experience in SAP technical roles, with direct, hands-on ABAP development and debugging experience aligned with the role's scope and level.
Experience with SAP BTP, CDS views, and the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud extensibility model, including BAdI restrictions.
Direct experience with SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud integrations; third-party/ISV connector or middleware integration experience is ideal but not required.
Demonstrated ability to debug in live customer or partner environments and interpret ABAP dumps, traces, and enhancement/BAdI code.
Strong client-facing skills, including leading technical discussions with enterprise customers and Certified Implementation Partner teams and explaining technical detail to non-technical stakeholders.
Strong troubleshooting skills and ability to isolate root cause across SAP configuration, custom code, connector logic, and integration middleware.
Hands-on fluency with Postman, SOAP UI, REST/SOAP API testing, and reading JSON/XML payloads, request/response cycles, and standardized error codes.
Working knowledge of tax calculation, VAT, and e-invoicing concepts, including the effects of country-specific e-invoicing mandates on SAP document flows.
Ability to work autonomously, manage competing high-priority issues, and drive issues to resolution without constant oversight or defaulting to engineering escalation.
Demonstrated, hands-on applied AI capability, with specific examples of using AI to improve the speed, quality, or scale of technical work and ability to explain tool and approach choices and relevant risk and governance considerations.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in a partner-facing or consulting role (SI, ISV, or SAP-focused consultancy) involving enterprise, multi-year implementations.
Working knowledge of Avalara's SAP connector architecture or FlexMapper, or willingness to ramp up quickly.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary technical owner on partner-led and direct SAP implementation projects, joining partner calls and resolving technical issues directly where possible.
Diagnose and resolve issues involving connector behavior, ABAP customization, BTP configuration, BAdI and enhancement logic, SAP Basis, and customer-specific code.
Escalate confirmed product defects to Connector Engineering with reproduction steps, logs, and ABAP traces.
Own issues through full resolution and closure.
Debug live issues across SAP ECC, S/4HANA Private Cloud, and S/4HANA Public Cloud, including ABAP debugging, dump analysis, and connector or interface tracing.
Review and advise on custom BAdI implementations, user exits, and enhancement logic used to extend Avalara connector functionality.
Navigate the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud extensibility model, including BTP, CDS views, and restricted BAdIs, to identify compliant technical paths.
Distinguish connector defects from customer configuration, custom code, or platform issues using first-principles troubleshooting.
Troubleshoot tax calculation, VAT, and e-invoicing issues where they intersect with SAP tax determination and connector behavior, including country-specific mandates.
Use REST API tools and log or trace analysis to reproduce issues and inspect JSON/XML payloads, authentication, and synchronous or asynchronous processing.
Analyze connector, ERP-native, and internal logs and traces to locate failure points and distinguish configuration, data, platform, and product-defect causes.
Prepare diagnostic artifacts for engineering escalations, including reproduction steps, payloads, logs, error codes, and business impact.
Join customer- and partner-facing calls to explain technical analysis, progress, and options in clear language.
Build trusted relationships with Certified Implementation Partner technical teams and customer ABAP and Basis resources.
Manage expectations on complex or long-running issues and keep stakeholders aligned on status and next steps.
Clarify the support boundary by guiding partners and customers on approach and diagnosis without taking ownership of their custom code.
Partner with Connector Engineering to keep engineering focused on product development rather than ad hoc troubleshooting.
Help the functional SAP Tax Technology team improve its independent debugging capability through runbooks, troubleshooting guides, and training.
Document recurring technical patterns, including common ABAP errors, BAdI pitfalls, and BTP/CDS restrictions.
Contribute technical input to roadmap and prioritization discussions based on patterns observed across implementations.
Identify and implement AI opportunities that accelerate technical triage, such as AI-assisted analysis of ABAP dumps, logs, and traces.
Design and build AI-powered triage agents to classify escalations, surface likely root causes, and recommend next steps or routing.
Integrate AI/LLM capabilities into troubleshooting workflows with safeguards, observability, and deterministic fallbacks, especially for compliance-critical tax processes.
Use AI-assisted tooling to accelerate documentation, runbooks, and issue write-ups, and evaluate emerging AI tools relevant to SAP technical support.
Operate autonomously, proactively identify technical risks to go-lives, partner trust, or competitive exposure, and manage competing high-priority issues through resolution.