Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world’s best athletes. It’s a place where passionate individuals come together to create the future of sport. We are unapologetic about who we are and what we’re after—bringing innovation and inspiration to every athlete* in the world. We look for athletes who can push boundaries, elevate our potential and continue leading us to greatness. The next tastemakers, playmakers, risk takers and glue players. Are you game?
WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH
The Engineering Excellence team partners directly with Directors, Architects, Product Managers, and engineering squads across Nike Global Technology to deliver unified developer platforms. This role reports to Senior Director and collaborates across foundational technology, AI-native SDLC, and developer experience functions globally.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Nike is seeking a Principal Software Engineer who brings architectural depth, technical authority, and a passion for transforming how software gets built at enterprise scale. The successful candidate has a proven track record of leading complex distributed systems, influencing cross-functional technical strategy, and mentoring senior engineers toward higher standards. This role requires someone who thinks in systems, drives AI-native development practices, and can bridge long-term platform vision with day-to-day execution. The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguity, takes ownership of the hardest technical problems, and leaves platforms measurably better than they found them.
- 10+ years of software engineering experience; Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent combination of education, experience or training
- Expert-level proficiency in one or more of Java, Node.js, Golang, React, or JavaScript, with a strong record of building highly available, highly scalable distributed systems
- At least 5 years of hands-on experience with AWS or equivalent major cloud platforms, Kubernetes, container runtimes, and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform
- Deep experience with CI/CD ecosystems, developer platform tooling (GitHub Actions, Artifactory, Backstage/Pulse), and developer experience optimization
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical architecture reviews, establish engineering standards, and influence decisions across multiple teams
WHAT YOU'LL WORK ON
You'll architect and own the most critical and complex pieces of Nike's developer platform consolidation — platforms used daily by engineers across the globe. Your work shapes standards, tools, and technical culture at a scale few companies can offer.
- Design end-to-end architecture for Nike's unified developer platforms spanning GitHub, Nike AI Control Plane, Databricks analytics systems, and the Pulse developer portal — ensuring resilience, security, and scale
- Lead technical strategy for AI-native SDLC implementation, building frameworks where agents perform automated work across the software delivery lifecycle with humans at key oversight checkpoints
- Drive consolidation of fragmented legacy tools by evaluating existing systems, defining migration paths, and engineering their replacement with efficient, reusable solutions
- Establish traceability models that connect business requirements through development workflows to production deployments and measurable engineering outcomes
- Mentor and elevate senior and lead engineers through design reviews, architectural guidance, and direct technical engagement across multiple squads
- Champion communities of practice in Observability, API design, AI/ML, Kubernetes, Cloud, and OpenSource — growing Nike's engineering culture to best-in-class industry standards
- Influence and contribute to Nike's multi-year platform roadmap by identifying emerging technology opportunities and building the case for strategic technical investments
OUR HIRING GAME PLAN
01 Apply
Our teams are made up of diverse skillsets, knowledge bases, inputs, ideas and backgrounds. We want you to find your fit – review job descriptions, departments and teams to discover the role for you.
02 Meet a Recruiter or Take an Assessment
If selected for a corporate role, a recruiter will reach out to start your interview process and be your main contact throughout the process. For retail roles, you’ll complete an interactive assessment that includes a chat and quizzes and takes about 10-20 minutes to complete. No matter the role, we want to learn about you – the whole you – so don’t shy away from how you approach world-class service and what makes you unique.
03 Interview
Go into this stage confident by doing your research, understanding what we are looking for and being prepared for questions that are set up to learn more about you, and your background.
