Lead Software Engineer - Forward Deployed Engineering, ITC

Job description

**Who You’ll Work With** You will be part of **Nike’s Supply Chain and Planning Technology (SCPT)** organization supporting **Demand Planning and Pricing (DPP) platforms** . As a Lead Software Engineer, you will report to an Sr. Engineering Manager and collaborate closely with Demand and Assortment Planners, Principal Engineers, Product Managers, and cross-functional partners. You will act as the **technical leader for your squad** , **guiding and mentoring engineers** while working across teams to deliver scalable platform capabilities across DPP. This role is **critical to building and scaling Nike’s Planning platform** - enabling reliable, scalable, and extensible systems that support enterprise-wide capabilities across domains. **Who We Are Looking For** **Education & Experience** - Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field - 8 - 12 years of experience building scalable backend systems - 2+ years in a technical leadership role, guiding teams and driving architecture decisions **Technical Expertise (Core - Required)** - Domain expertise in implementing solutions for retail apparel industry specific demand planning, forecasting, and pricing capabilities - Strong expertise in Full-stack software development and systems architecture - Proven experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems including API Design, Integration and Microservices, Database systems and Data Modeling, Security, Compliance and data privacy - Hands-on experience with event-driven architecture and messaging systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar) - Exposure to data engineering ecosystems (Spark, Databricks, or similar) - Strong fundamentals in SQL and data modelling - Understanding of batch and real-time data processing patterns - Exposure to frontend technologies such as React or Angular - Experience working on enterprise-scale platforms and integrations - Familiarity with distributed systems and external service integrations - Solid experience with Cloud infrastructure and deployment patterns (AWS preferred) and cloud-native design principles - Strong understanding of CI/CD, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and DevOps practices **Leadership & Behavioral Skills** - Strong ability to mentor and influence engineering teams - Proven experience driving technical roadmaps and cross-team alignment - Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, ability to directly work with the business users. - Ability to adapt and operate effectively in a continuously changing, fast-paced, ambiguous environment - Bring a strong mindset of Forward Deployment Engineer to implement & deliver at speed and scale **What You’ll Work On** As a Lead Software Engineer, you will drive strategy, architecture, and execution for Demand planning and pricing capabilities. **Technical Leadership & Strategy** - Own and drive the technical roadmap for your domain in partnership with Product and Architecture - Translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions - Lead architectural design decisions and technical reviews across systems **Backend System Design & Development** - Design and build highly scalable backend systems and microservices using Java, Spring Boot, and cloud-native patterns - Develop robust Data Driven, RESTful APIs and event-driven services for enterprise-scale platforms - Build resilient distributed systems leveraging messaging platforms like Kafka or similar **Data Engineering & Integration (Preferred Strength Area)** - Design and implement data pipelines and integrations across systems and platforms - Work with modern data platforms (e.g., Spark, Databricks, Delta Lake or equivalent) where required - Contribute to data quality, consistency, and availability across services - Strategize and design Ontology based explainable systems that can drive decisions and insights at high accuracy **Cloud & Platform Engineering** - Lead development and deployment of services on cloud platforms (AWS preferred), ensuring scalability and efficiency - Drive adoption of CI/CD pipelines, observability, and DevOps best practices **Engineering Excellence** - Establish and enforce high standards in coding, testing, and system reliability - Continuously improve system performance and scalability - Promote modern engineering practices and platform-first thinking **Collaboration & Mentorship** - Mentor engineers across levels and foster a strong engineering culture - Partner with Business, Product and Engineering leaders to align priorities and execution **AI & Engineering Productivity** - Leverage AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Copilot, code assistants) to improve coding efficiency, testing, and documentation - Identify opportunities to apply AI/GenAI capabilities to enhance system workflows, automation, and user experiences - Contribute to establishing best practices for responsible AI usage, ensuring security, data privacy, and reliability - Balance AI usage with strong engineering fundamentals, system design, and code quality standards