Engineer principal, Edge Foundation Services - ST; Seattle, WA)

From the beginning, Starbucks set out to be a different kind of company. One that not only celebrated coffee and the rich tradition, but that also brought a feeling of connection. We are known for developing extraordinary leaders who share this passion and are guided by their service to others.

Edge Foundation Services builds the full-stack platform powering Starbucks stores worldwide (soon). Our work spans edge compute, deployment, device management, networking, and the operational capabilities that keep technology reliable across company-operated, licensed, and franchise locations. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll set the technical direction for this ecosystem; connecting architecture, delivery, and operations to create secure, resilient platforms that perform at global scale and make every store easier to evolve.

You’ll build the foundational services that turn thousands of coffeehouses into a consistent, scalable runtime, giving product teams a paved path to deliver new experiences with greater speed and confidence. Working across engineering, product, architecture, security, and operations, you’ll guide critical decisions, establish reusable patterns, mentor engineers, and raise the engineering bar across teams. You’ll also shape how AI moves from experimentation to safe, reliable production in stores;

defining the guardrails and platform capabilities that can unlock smarter operations and more seamless experiences for store partners and customers.

• Own the technical vision from edge to experience – Set the engineering direction for holistic platform solutions, connecting architecture, delivery, and operations to create reliable, scalable experiences for our customers and store partners.
• Architect platforms built for real-world scale – Lead the end-to-end design of secure, resilient, and adaptable infrastructure across compute, networking, containers, and applications. Champion automation, Git Ops, CI/CD, observability, and operational excellence so teams can ship confidently and continuously.
• Multiply the impact of engineering teams – Mentor engineers, guide critical technical decisions, and bring architects, product partners, and developers together around the right solution. Translate complexity into clear direction, raise the engineering bar, and help teams deliver outcomes that matter to customers.
• Shape the AI strategy at the edge – Define how AI capabilities are safely deployed, operated, and scaled across thousands of stores. Establish architectural patterns and guardrails that help teams move from experimentation to reliable production solutions that improve the store‑partner and customer experience.

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including significant technical leadership across complex, large-scale platform or distributed systems
• Proven ability to define technical strategy and architecture, make high-impact design decisions, and guide solutions from concept through production operations
• Deep expertise in building secure, resilient, scalable platforms spanning applications, cloud infrastructure, networking, containers, data stores, observability, and automation
• Demonstrated success influencing across engineering, architecture, product, security, and operations without relying on direct authority
• Track record of translating 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…