WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH
You will report to the Senior Engineering Manager / Director of Engineering and serve as the most senior individual contributor in the organization. You will partner with Directors, Senior Architects, BI Experience leadership, Platform leadership, Data Governance, and Security to set the multi-year technical strategy for how Nike consumes Marketplace and Nike Direct data. You will be a technical force multiplier — your decisions influence dozens of teams and millions of dollars of TCO.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are looking for a hands-on technical leader with deep systems intuition, strong opinions held loosely, and a proven record of driving enterprise-wide outcomes.
A minimum of 10+ years of software and data engineering experience, including time as a senior or lead IC at a large-scale data-driven company.
Mastery of multiple backend languages (Java, Python, Scala) and deep expertise in distributed systems, data modeling, and API design.
Architect-level fluency with modern data platforms — Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Iceberg, Trino, dbt, or equivalents — and with streaming systems (Kafka, Flink).
Proven experience designing enterprise consumption layers — semantic/ontology layers, governed APIs, metric stores, agentic/LLM-powered analytics surfaces.
Strong cloud architecture expertise across AWS, GCP, or Azure: security, cost, resilience, multi-region.
A track record of driving large-scale simplifications, decommissions, and migrations across many teams.
Demonstrated ability to set technical strategy, write influential design documents, and align senior leaders.
Experience partnering with Platform, Security, and Governance organizations to shape enterprise standards.
Exceptional written and verbal communication; equally comfortable in deep-code reviews and exec briefings.
Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science or related field — or equivalent experience.
Preferred: published technical writing, open-source contributions, prior experience leading data-product platforms at retail / commerce / consumer scale.
WHAT YOU'LL WORK ON
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will shape the long-term technical direction of how Nike's enterprise consumes Marketplace and Nike Direct data.
You will define the multi-year architecture for our governed consumption layers — APIs, ontology/semantic models, agentic layers, and data quality systems.
You will drive a single source of truth for Nike Direct and Marketplace data across the enterprise, in partnership with BI Experience teams.
You will lead the aggressive simplification and unification of our data products landscape — picking which systems live, which get decommissioned, and how teams migrate safely.
You will co-design with BI Experience teams the agentic and AI-powered consumption experiences that change how business users discover health, insights, and actions.
You will set engineering standards (testing, observability, security, performance) and ensure they are adopted consistently across the org's repos.
You will influence the Platform team's toolkit, blueprints, and patterns to make sure they serve Marketplace data use cases at scale.
You will mentor Leads and Senior engineers across multiple squads, and represent the organization in cross-Nike architecture and governance forums.
You will write and ship code on the highest-leverage problems — staying close enough to the keyboard to make decisions credibly.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of software and data engineering experience, including time as a senior or lead IC at a large-scale data-driven company
- Mastery of multiple backend languages (Java, Python, Scala)
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, data modeling, and API design
- Architect-level fluency with modern data platforms (Databricks, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Iceberg, Trino, dbt, or equivalents)
- Experience with streaming systems (Kafka, Flink)
- Proven experience designing enterprise consumption layers: semantic/ontology layers, governed APIs, metric stores, agentic/LLM analytics surfaces
- Strong cloud architecture expertise across AWS, GCP, or Azure: security, cost, resilience, multi-region
- Track record of driving large-scale simplifications, decommissions, and migrations across many teams
- Demonstrated ability to set technical strategy, write influential design documents, and align senior leaders
- Experience partnering with Platform, Security, and Governance organizations to shape enterprise standards
- Exceptional written and verbal communication; comfortable in deep-code reviews and executive briefings
- Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience
- Preferred: published technical writing, open-source contributions, or prior experience leading data-product platforms at retail/commerce/consumer scale
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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