Job Directory Whole Foods Market Senior Principal Software Development Engineer (Custom)
Whole Foods Market

Senior Principal Software Development Engineer (Custom) Whole Foods Market
Austin, TX

Whole Foods Market is a company operating a chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets.

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About Whole Foods Market

Job Description

The Digital Technology team delivers customer-facing mobile and web experiences and marketing solutions that enable Whole Foods Market to meet customer and Team Member needs in the moment - whether in the store, at home, or on the go. Digital Technology also provides enterprise services that support store and product information, web content, customer service, customer email, and Prime Now delivery and pickup capabilities. Whole Foods is heavily investing in Digital Platform capabilities in support of our Marketing and Customer Relationship objectives to grow business in stores and online. The thoughtful evolution of this complex platform and the teams supporting it are a critical component of the overall company's plans for growth and success.

The Principal Engineer of Digital Technology is a leadership-level role and will be highly visible at all levels in the organization. The ability to influence, collaborate, and communicate with business and technology executives, senior engineers, third party solution partners, and peers will be critical to success in this role. This leader will serve to set and promote the technical vision, strategy, and delivery of multiple complex and high-priority projects that directly impact the combined systems and business strategies of Whole Foods and Amazon. The favored candidate for this role will possess deep experience in the execution and delivery of customer-facing digital experiences and capabilities, large scale transactional systems, software engineering pipelines, and operational toolsets. This position will report directly to the Vice President of Digital Technology and will be located in Austin, TX.

The Principal Software Engineer will lead Digital Technology's technical strategy and engineering practices. This role will:

* Foster the implementation and delivery of high quality, reliable, scalable solutions that are strongly aligned with our business roadmap and objectives.
* Provide technical strategy and direction to Digital Technology engineering teams
* Serve as a primary conduit for enterprise architecture, alignment with enterprise technology strategy and roadmap, and major system integrations.
* Drive technical implementation roadmaps, delivery processes and tools, code and release management processes, and operational capabilities.
* Guide and mentor our most senior software engineers and managers.

This role will be highly visible and influential in the organization, and must work well with team members and leaders at all levels. The position will reward a natural collaborator and team player who can expediently consider multiple competing solution options and make sound decisions on a path forward.

Role Responsibilities

The scope of this role includes ownership and accountability for the technical implementation of the Digital Technology portfolio of solutions, loosely referred to as the Digital Platform. Solution areas include the primary website, micro-sites, native mobile apps, voice, Web Commerce, Content Management, Web Experience Management, APIs, Personalization, Search, email, front and back end technologies, Customer Service, and operations. For these areas, the candidate will:

* Be responsible for collaborating with technical delivery teams, enterprise solution architects, and business stakeholders to define and govern the application architecture for all digital and web systems (including base platform technologies, supporting systems, and integrations to upstream and downstream enterprise systems).
* Work closely with delivery managers and engineering teams define and govern project execution toolsets and processes. Drive key POC's, vendor evaluations, and delivery estimates as needed.
* Analyze Digital Platform solution implementations to identify and prioritize gaps in capabilities and designs, and recommend practical, forward-thinking solutions that align with the organization's ability to deliver.
* Ensure capabilities will meet or exceed production performance and security requirements, and that solutions are appropriately designed for their intended lifespan.
* Keep yourself and the team informed about technology industry and market trends, as well as Amazon services and capabilities that should be leveraged to meet our needs. Determine potential impacts, drive innovation, and ensure flexibility, sustainability, and technical relevance of the solutions we build.
* Develop and maintain a living, detailed, and strategically aligned implementation roadmap that describes the planned evolution of digital solutions and provides for the proper integration of mobile applications, website services, voice, devices, cloud services, and enterprise systems.
* Work closely with business partners, application teams, infrastructure teams, project teams and architects to ensure that technology solutions are aligned with business objectives and existing technical capabilities. Address the full solution lifecycle, from current state, through roadmaps, to decommission of aging technologies. Aim to consolidate and simplify with a services-oriented solutions approach.
* Lead and evangelize innovation initiatives within the team that result in the practical application of new and existing technologies to deliver differentiated customer experiences and internal capabilities.
* Mentor delivery teams as needed through application and code design reviews and individual training as needed. Ensure consistency and accuracy of application-level design artifacts, and facilitate appropriate cross-organizational reviews and approvals as needed.

Individual Operating Characteristics

500+ Whole Foods Market stores are divided into 12 Regions throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. The Global organization exists to support the stores and regions by providing centralized systems, standards, and services in close coordination with Amazon. Regions and Stores operate their business units with a degree of autonomy, and have historically driven and adopted different point solutions to meet the demands of their specific market or systems environment. This practice is shifting considerably as we seek to standardize solutions for the company and drive enhanced capabilities and operational efficiencies. Key to any individual's success in the company is the ability to collaborate and drive alignment between Global, Regions, and Amazon. We continuously seek to provide effective and flexible solutions that meet objectives for speed to market, cost effectiveness, and improvements to operations. The successful candidate for this position will demonstrate the following operating characteristics:

* Collaborative, inclusive, and open communication style.
* Energized by working in a dynamic, decentralized, highly-matrixed organization
* Prefers to make decisions based on data, analysis, and objectivity
* Passionate about Whole Foods Market's and Amazon's combined mission and core values
* Keenly interested in the underlying business requirements and priorities that drive the solutions we provide, and able to translate these needs into technology needs into understandable planning processes with Tech Team partners
* Foster an atmosphere of empowerment and accountability
* Promote the spirit of shared fate for the success of the entire Technology Team
* Exercise good judgment and the ability to consider impacts to all stakeholders
* Have a conscious leadership style and high emotional intelligence
* Have a sense of humor, a positive attitude; a willingness to learn and have fun
* Collaborate extensively with regions, stores, fellow team members, leadership, business partners and suppliers
* Develop team members to become our future leaders
* Embrace an open door policy
* Clearly and effectively communicate using verbal, written, presentation, and listening skills

Role Requirements

* 4+ years experience in a senior, strategic technology planning and delivery role
* 7+ years experience hands-on website development, design, and architecture, preferably including most of the following: Java-based enterprise solutions, commerce platforms, mobile applications, social platforms, content management systems and tools, search, SEO and affiliate integrations, and front-end technologies
* 4+ years experience with large-scale retail enterprise systems (eCommerce back end, and in-store retail systems experiences are advantageous)
* Experience supporting portfolio planning and demand management discussions in alignment with technical and business roadmaps
* Strong technical leadership track record, with proven experience empowering, developing and motivating technical teams
* Experience delivering software solutions using Agile methodologies
* Grocery and retail experience preferred
* 4-year Computer Science college degree (Masters preferred) or equivalent educational experience
* Occasional travel may be required. Position is located in Austin, TX

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

About Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market is a company operating a chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets.

Headquarters
Size
10001 employees
Whole Foods Market

550 bowie street

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