Software Engineer IV

At PDI Technologies, we empower some of the world's leading convenience retail and petroleum brands with cutting-edge technology solutions that drive growth and operational efficiency.

By “Connecting Convenience” across the globe, we empower businesses to increase productivity, make more informed decisions, and engage faster with customers through loyalty programs, shopper insights, and unmatched real-time market intelligence via mobile applications, such as GasBuddy.  We’re a global team committed to excellence, collaboration, and driving real impact. Explore our opportunities and become part of a company that values diversity, integrity, and growth.

Role Overview:

Do you love building software that thrills your customers using AIDLC? Do you insist on high standards for the systems you and your teams design and build? Are you a progressive, hands-on software engineer with an architect’s mindset, an advocate of agile development practices, and a proponent of continuous improvement? Well if this is you, then join an energetic team of engineers building next generation applications for PDI!  Software Engineer 4 is our senior-most engineering level and operates at the scope of a Software Architect. You will own the technical architecture and solution design for your product area as we drive to continuously increase our cloud maturity and mobility, defining how services are structured, integrated, secured, and scaled, and making the key design decisions for new and existing applications. You will lead medium and large sized projects, set technical direction and engineering standards across teams, and guide, train, and mentor engineers at all levels. You will partner with Product Management, Software Architects, and DevOps on solution feasibility, estimation, and the technical roadmap, and serve as the evangelist and custodian of our technology, architecture, and product.  With the variety of environments, platforms, technologies & languages, you must be comfortable working in both Windows & Linux environments and learning a variety of programming languages.
This is a hands-on architect-level position (~60% hands-on design and coding, ~40% architecture, technical leadership, and mentoring) requiring expert proficiency in .NET Core, React, SQL Server, and cloud-native architecture on Azure, with ownership of system design, architectural decisions, and engineering quality across teams.

Key Responsibilities

Own the architecture and solution design for your product area, and be accountable for design decisions for new and existing applications, proactively escalating issues and seeking assistance to overcome obstacles.
Define and document target-state architecture, system designs, and architecture decision records (ADRs); run design reviews and ensure implementations stay consistent with the agreed architecture.
Design for non-functional requirements (scalability, availability, performance, security, and compliance such as PCI DSS) and make the trade-offs between them explicit.
Define service boundaries, API contracts, integration patterns (REST, messaging and event-driven), and data models across services and third-party systems.
Lead medium and large sized projects end-to-end, from architecture and design through production deployment.
Set technical direction, coding standards, and engineering best practices across teams; guide, train, and mentor engineers at all levels, including through code and design reviews.
Actively design, develop, and maintain critical services and enterprise applications using .NET Framework, .NET Core, and React, building reference implementations and proofs of concept.
Partner with Product Management to consult on solution feasibility, high-level effort estimation, and the technical roadmap.
Prepare and provide project status and risk assessments, including technical and architectural risks, to management with appropriate levels of detail to ensure programs stay on schedule.
Collaborate with Software Architects and DevOps teams to evaluate tools, processes, technologies, and cloud infrastructure, including build-versus-buy decisions.
Make recommendations for technology adoption and framework improvement, analyzing trends, patterns, and best practices for software, including AI-assisted development (AIDLC).
Serve as the evangelist and custodian of technology, architecture, and product.
Identify systemic performance, reliability, and scalability risks; drive root-cause analysis of production incidents and the architectural fixes that follow.
Use a disciplined approach in an Agile environment to assist in analysis and determination of preferred solutions to technical challenges.
Troubleshoot, test, and validate software issues; resolve issues with due urgency and maintain thorough documentation of all software solutions.
Work with Product Owner to clarify and estimate feature work, and with QA Engineers to develop optimal product test plans and resolve issues found during release stabilization.
Own the technical debt roadmap: identify, prioritize, and drive modernization and improvements across teams.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field plus 9+ years’ experience designing, developing, and maintaining software applications in a software product development environment, OR equivalent experience.
4+ years of experience serving as a technical team lead or in an architecture role.
Proven track record of designing and delivering distributed, cloud-native systems end-to-end, including microservices, event-driven architecture, and API design.
Expert in: .NET Framework, .Net/.NET Core, C#, SQL, ASP.NET, ASP.NET Core, MVC, REST API, React.
Strong knowledge of architecture and design principles: design patterns, domain-driven design, SOLID, scalability, resiliency patterns, caching, and messaging (for example, Azure Service Bus).
Strong experience with SQL Server and NoSQL data stores (for example, Cosmos DB): data modeling, stored procedures, and query performance tuning.
Deep knowledge of C# development including: multi-threading, memory management, async programming, microservices, dependency injection.
3+ years of experience designing and running cloud native applications on Azure (or AWS/GCP): Infrastructure as a Service, Docker/containers, CI/CD, and observability.
Understanding of application security and compliance (OWASP, PCI DSS), with experience in payments or other regulated domains preferred.
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (AI-based agents) and the ability to drive their adoption across teams.
Proficiency with Microsoft Visual Studio IDE and the use of Azure DevOps or Jira.
2+ years of practical experience with Agile development methodologies.
Highly motivated self-starter with a desire to help others and take action.
Requires strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts into non-technical terms and present architecture to technical and business audiences.
Ability to socialize ideas and influence decisions without direct authority.
Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks with competing deadlines.
Strong problem-solving and analytical skills with the ability to work under pressure.
Considers ‘best-practice’ standards, as well as departmental policies and procedures.
Experience working in retail or payments solution is preferred.

Behavioral Competencies

Ensures Accountability

Manages Complexity

Communicates Effectively

Balances Stakeholders

Collaborates Effectively