Role Specific Information
Job Description
About the Role
As Staff Software Engineer, you will be part of a dynamic, cross-functional team dedicated to enhancing the customer experience. You will collaborate closely with Design, Product Management, and Engineering experts to tackle real-world challenges and deliver innovative solutions that elevate our retail offerings.
What You’ll Do
- Lead the development of high-quality applications that are robust, observable and measurable. Using extreme programming (XP) practices and a user-centric approach
- Navigate the entire application lifecycle in collaboration with designers, product managers, and other engineers on the product team
- Leverage critical thinking, lead lean experimentation and influence decisions backed by data and industry best practices to implement desired business outcomes
- Establish and lead product engineering and software standards and continuously elevate existing standards using the new ones in the industry
- Mentor junior team members in pairing sessions, one-on-ones and ad-hoc as the need arises, and create teachable moments
- Contribute to cultural transformation by modeling partnership, collaboration, and technical initiatives and giving and receiving feedback regularly both within the team and across the organization
- Champion XP practice and knows when to customize it for effectiveness and also engages in conversations around practice, processes and community
- Additional tasks may be assigned
Addendum
STAFF AI SOFTWARE ENGINEER
- Design and build modular, headless AI backend services, advanced RAG architectures, and multi-agent orchestration workflows (e.g., LangChain, AutoGen, CrewAI).
- Construct enterprise-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) gateways, Application Programming Interface (API) integration/mediation layers, rate limiters, and security proxies that allow autonomous agents to safely read and write to enterprise systems.
- Develop lightweight, streaming simulation frontends ("Dry-Run" interfaces) solely to validate agent behaviors, prompt strategies, and human-in-the-loop workflows during pilot discovery.
- Collaborate with Applied/Data Science and Machine Learning specialists to fine-tune Small Language Models (SLMs), execute weight quantization (AWQ/GPTQ), and optimize GPU memory utilization for high-throughput inference.
- Instrument distributed tracing, token utilization logging, and inference latency telemetry across the AI stack.
- Package reusable code libraries, containerized microservices, and integration SDKs for domain delivery and implementation teams.
- Architect resilient Compound AI Systems that orchestrate dynamic routing between deterministic APIs, specialized SLMs, and frontier LLMs.
Requirements
- 6+ years of demonstrated experience building and scaling production applications using foundation models, RAG, or agentic workflows
- 6+ years of experience integrating AI applications securely with enterprise data, APIs, and identity/access controls
- 4+ years of experience evaluating and optimizing AI application quality, latency, reliability, and cost
What Skills You Have
Required
- 6+ years of experience in software development
- Proven ability to manage multiple competing priorities
- Advanced knowledge of application design patterns, event-driven architecture, database schemas, and testing strategies
- Experience with large-scale application troubleshooting and performance tuning
- Demonstrated experience working with major cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure)
- Knowledge and experience with continuous integration, continuous deployment, and test-driven development
Preferred
- Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in MIS, Computer Science or related field
- Familiarity and experie
Essential Functions
The requirements listed below are representative of functions you will be required to perform, however you may be required to perform additional functions. Kohl’s may revise this job description from time to time. To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions, absent undue hardship.
- Ability to perform the accountabilities listed in the “What You’ll Do” Section
- Ability to comply with dress code requirements
- Basic math and reading skills, legible handwriting, and basic computer operation
- Ability to maintain prompt and regular attendance and meet scheduling requirements as set by the company
- Ability to learn and comply with all company policies, procedures, standards and guidelines
- Ability to give direction and to receive, understand and proactively respond to direction from leadership and other company personnel
- Ability to work as part of a team and interact effectively and appropriately with others
- Ability to maintain composure and work in a fast paced environment while accomplishing multiple tasks within established timeframes
- Ability to satisfactorily complete company training programs
- Ability to use a personal computer for tasks such as communicating, preparing reports, etc.
- Ability to plan, prioritize and monitor activities across business units
- Ability to complete or oversee the completion of assigned projects in a timely manner
Skills Required
- 6+ years of experience building and scaling production applications using foundation models, RAG, or agentic workflows
- 6+ years of experience integrating AI applications securely with enterprise data, APIs, and identity/access controls
- 4+ years of experience evaluating and optimizing AI application quality, latency, reliability, and cost
- 6+ years of software development experience
- Ability to manage multiple competing priorities
- Advanced knowledge of application design patterns, event-driven architecture, database schemas, and testing strategies
- Experience with large-scale application troubleshooting and performance tuning
- Experience with a major cloud platform such as GCP, AWS, or Azure
- Knowledge and experience with continuous integration, continuous deployment, and test-driven development
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent in MIS, Computer Science, or a related field
- Familiarity and experience with additional unspecified technologies
Kohl's Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Kohl's and has not been reviewed or approved by Kohl's.
-
Retirement Support — Feedback suggests the 401(k) plan is a standout, offering a dollar‑for‑dollar company match up to 5% with contributions available from day one. Eligibility and vesting mechanics are presented as straightforward for eligible roles.
-
Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave includes 12–14 weeks for birthing parents and 6 weeks for other eligible parents. Feedback suggests this is a meaningful family‑support element within the package.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — The package includes a 15% everyday associate discount that can rise to 35% on select days, access to an Employee Assistance Program, and low‑ or no‑cost wellness centers in eligible locations. Feedback suggests these everyday perks add tangible value alongside core benefits.
Kohl's Insights
What We Do
Kohl’s is a leading omnichannel retailer with more than 1,100 stores in 49 states Kohl's business is built on a solid foundation of more than 65 million customers, an unmatched brand portfolio, industry-leading loyalty and Kohl's Card programs, a convenient and accessible nationwide store footprint, and large digital business on Kohls.com and the Kohl's mobile app. Our Vision: - The retailer of choice for the active and casual lifestyle - Destination for active and casual lifestyle as well as beauty for the entire family — from the most trusted brands, always delivering quality and discovery - Leading with loyalty and value through best-in-class rewards programs - Differentiated omnichannel experience — easy and inviting, no matter how our customer wants to shop
