The Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup engineering teams build and operate cloud-native control plane capabilities that standardize how infrastructure services are provisioned, governed, and operated across Nike. These teams partner globally to modernize legacy workflows and improve platform reliability, security, and developer experience. You will partner with engineering managers, senior engineers, principal engineers, product managers, and global platform teams to evolve shared control plane patterns across domains. This role is based in the Nike
India Technology Center and works closely with teams in Beaverton and PHK to align architecture, roadmap priorities, and operational practices.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Nike is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for cloud control plane engineering across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup platforms. This is a high-ownership, hands-on engineering leadership role for someone who can go deep in architecture, write and review production-quality Go, and
guide engineers through complex platform modernization efforts. The ideal candidate brings strong experience with Kubernetes-native control planes, Crossplane, AWS, Infrastructure as Code, and production operations. They can lead design reviews, make technical trade-offs visible, mentor engineers, and help migrate legacy provisioning workflows into declarative Kubernetes/Crossplane operating models.
• 7-10+ years of professional software engineering experience building cloud infrastructure platforms, control planes, distributed systems, or backend services at meaningful scale.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Deep hands-on experience with Go and Kubernetes, including production-grade services, APIs, controllers, or operator-style software.
• Experience with Crossplane, AWS, Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code approaches; Azure experience is a plus.
• Experience owning production software, participating in on-call rotations, and serving as an escalation point for operational incidents.
• Ability to mentor engineers, lead design reviews, set technical standards, and drive multi-quarter initiatives across distributed teams.
• Rust programming experience, open-source Kubernetes ecosystem contributions, or platform automation experience is a plus.
WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON
You will lead technical design and delivery for Kubernetes-native control plane capabilities that move infrastructure provisioning from legacy workflows into declarative, policy-driven, and self-service models. NIKE, Inc. Job Description Template
You will work across domains while keeping the implementation generic, reusable, secure, and operationally resilient.
• You will design and evolve Crossplane compositions, APIs, and platform abstractions that support reusable control plane capabilities across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup domains.
• You will build and review Go-based services, Kubernetes controllers, CRDs, and integration patterns that reconcile desired state, manage drift, and support safe platform operations.
• You will help migrate legacy provisioning and operational workflows into declarative Kubernetes/Crossplane models with clear sequencing, rollout safety, and operational guardrails.
• You will establish engineering standards for code review, test strategy, release safety, documentation, observability, and operational readiness.
• You will partner with product, engineering management, principal engineers, and global teams to align roadmap priorities and architecture decisions.
• You will mentor senior and mid-level engineers while raising the bar for cloud-native platform engineering practices.
• You will serve as a production escalation anchor, participate in on-call practices, and identifyopportunities to use automation and AI-assisted workflows to reduce toil.
Skills Required
- 7-10+ years professional software engineering experience building cloud infrastructure platforms, control planes, distributed systems, or backend services at scale.
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.
- Deep hands-on experience with Go and Kubernetes, including production-grade services, APIs, controllers, or operator-style software.
- Experience with Crossplane and designing Crossplane compositions, APIs, and platform abstractions.
- Experience with AWS and Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform or similar).
- Experience owning production software, participating in on-call rotations, and serving as an escalation point for operational incidents.
- Ability to mentor engineers, lead design reviews, set technical standards, and drive multi-quarter initiatives across distributed teams.
- Rust programming experience, open-source Kubernetes ecosystem contributions, or platform automation experience.
Nike Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Nike and has not been reviewed or approved by Nike.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with a company match is complemented by options such as a Mega Backdoor Roth and deferred compensation for eligible earners. Financial coaching and structured savings programs support long-term financial security.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — An Employee Stock Purchase Plan with a stock discount sits alongside broad-based equity vehicles like RSUs and non-qualified stock options. These avenues expand wealth-building opportunities beyond base pay.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave includes maternity and paternity time, recently expanded in the U.S. to 16 weeks and extended to part-time retail teammates. Additional supports include childcare assistance at select locations and family-building benefits such as fertility, surrogacy, and adoption.
Nike Insights
What We Do
At NIKE, Inc., we innovate to serve athletes*. Every teammate - from coder to creator - plays a role in making these athletes’ dreams real. Our tech, data, and digital teams push limits every day, building the future of sport and the tools that drive it. Here, curiosity is fuel. Innovation is the game plan. Different perspectives keep us on the offense. You’ll solve challenges worth tackling, grow fast and belong to a team that backs you to do the right thing. Bring your drive. Bring your bold. Let’s move the world, together. Take your first step at nike.com/careers * If you have a body, you’re an athlete.
Why Work With Us
At NIKE, Inc., your dedication fuels the future of sport. There is a sense of pride that comes from representing an iconic brand and shaping its future. Here, we treat every day as a new opportunity to push boundaries, ask tough questions and share whole-hearted convictions. We are a team – united by the belief that anything is possible.
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