Principal engineer- international technology & Starbucks digital solutions

Description This role strengthens technical excellence across EMEA while aligning to global technology strategy and leading the Starbucks Digital Solutions technical direction for International markets. It will set engineering direction, raise standards and guide decisions across internally developed and third-party platforms that matter most to our business, customers, partners, baristas and shareholders.

As a Principal Engineer, you will be a strategic technical leader, trusted advisor and hands-on technologist. You will partner across product, delivery, security, infrastructure and technology teams to turn enterprise strategy into scalable, secure and resilient engineering outcomes.

EMEA’s technology landscape is predominantly third-party today. This role will help determine where Starbucks should build, own and differentiate in line with our CTO vision and Starbucks Digital Solutions strategy, focusing on the systems and capabilities where greater engineering ownership can create competitive advantage, agility and long-term value across International markets.

This role is for an ambitious self-starter who thrives in ambiguity, operates with significant autonomy and influences effectively at all levels of the organisation. Equally comfortable discussing code-level solutions with engineers or presenting technology strategy to senior executives, you will bring technical depth, commercial awareness and sound judgement to every decision.

As Starbucks expands its global engineering capability, this role offers a unique opportunity to shape, build and potentially lead future engineering teams supporting EMEA and broader International products and platforms. Reporting to an EMEA Director, you will work across business functions, global technology teams, Starbucks Digital Solutions, vendors and delivery partners to ensure technology investments are scalable, secure, resilient and aligned to long-term strategic objectives.

Qualifications The role will deliver impact by:

Technical Strategy & Leadership
• Set and influence the technical direction for EMEA technology capabilities, aligned to Starbucks’ global technology strategy and the Starbucks Digital Solutions direction for International markets.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to senior technology and business leaders.
• Provide clear recommendations on technology investments, build-versus-buy decisions and platform evolution.
• Identify opportunities to increase Starbucks-owned technology capabilities and reduce unnecessary third-party dependency where strategic value exists.
• Drive technical decision-making across programmes, products and business domains.
• Balance speed, scalability, maintainability, resilience, security and cost in technology decisions.

Engineering Excellence & Standards
• Raise engineering standards, practices and technical maturity across EMEA.
• Promote modern engineering principles, tooling, patterns and ways of working across EMEA teams.
• Lead architecture and engineering reviews, providing guidance on solution design and implementation.
• Champion best practices in testing, observability, reliability, security, automation and operational excellence.
• Help teams reduce technical debt and improve platform health.

Platform Strategy & Solution Ownership
• Partner with Product teams to deliver business outcomes through sustainable technical solutions.
• Modernise platforms, simplify technology landscapes and consolidate capabilities where they create strategic value.
• Shape integration strategies across SaaS platforms, cloud-native services and custom-developed solutions.

Enterprise Alignment & Collaboration
• Partner with Starbucks Global Technology and Starbucks Digital Solutions teams to align EMEA priorities with enterprise standards, platforms and International market direction.
• Represent regional needs in global roadmaps and shape Starbucks Digital Solutions priorities where International market requirements can create broader enterprise value.
• Build strong relationships across engineering, infrastructure, security, product and vendor communities.
• Ensure technology investments have a clear return for Starbucks and…