principal architect- cloud

Job Summary and Mission

As a Principal Architect within Starbucks Technology, you lead architecture development for global IT solutions spanning Legal Technology, Azure (including Azure Translate), AWS, Atlassian, and ServiceNow. This role is intentionally hands-on — closer to the practice than a strategy-only EA — and is accountable for converting business need into architectures, designs, and working solutions across this full technology ecosystem. As a senior member of the architecture community, you champion best practices and process improvement, but your credibility comes from direct, working-level fluency in the platforms themselves, not solely from frameworks and roadmaps.

This person must be equally comfortable evaluating out-of-the-box and SaaS platform capabilities as they are assessing when a custom-built tool or integration is the better path. A core part of this role is bringing sound build-versus-buy judgment to the table — recognizing when existing platforms can be configured or extended to meet a need, and when building a purpose-built tool will deliver more value, flexibility, or cost efficiency.

The defining measure of success for this role is the ability to synthesize cross-platform, hands-on technical insight into an optimization strategy — identifying where to cut redundant or underused software, where to consolidate capability, where to augment with new tooling (built or bought), and where custom development is the smarter investment — while simultaneously elevating the organization's security posture by embedding security insight directly into architecture and platform decisions.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

Hands-On Ecosystem Architecture

• Evaluate build-versus-buy trade-offs for each capability gap identified — weighing total cost of ownership, flexibility, security, and maintenance burden of custom tooling against configuring or extending existing SaaS/out-of-the-box platforms
• Design and prototype custom tools or integrations when a build decision is warranted, rather than defaulting to vendor-provided solutions
• Maintain deep, working-level fluency across multiple domains and enterprise programs— able to move from strategy conversation to configuration review in the same meeting
• Personally build and maintain architecture diagrams, data flow maps, and integration inventories across all five platform areas rather than delegating artifact creation
• Prototype, test, and validate integration patterns directly instead of relying solely on vendor documentation or secondhand reporting from engineering teams
• Stay current on platform-specific capabilities, licensing models, and roadmap changes for each of the five ecosystems

Software & Platform Rationalization

• Build and continuously maintain a cross-platform capability map identifying overlapping, redundant, or underutilized tools across multiple domains
• Deliver regular, data-backed rationalization recommendations: what to cut, what to consolidate, what to augment, and the expected cost/complexity impact of each
• Quantify the business case for rationalization decisions, including cost savings, reduced maintenance burden, and reduced integration complexity
• Partner with finance and vendor management to validate license utilization and total cost of ownership across the platform portfolio
• Present rationalization findings in a way that directly and measurably influences leadership’s technology investment strategy

Security Posture Enhancement

• Proactively surface security risks and gaps discovered through hands-on platform work, including misconfigurations, excessive access, unpatched integrations, and data exposure risks
• Bring security-by-design thinking into every architecture decision across the five platforms rather than treating security as a separate downstream review
• Partner directly with security and compliance teams to translate architecture-level findings into actionable remediation plans
• Establish and enforce security standards for integrations, APIs, identity/access management, and data handling across multiple domains and enterprise programs
• Track and report measurable improvement in security posture resulting from architecture-driven changes

Future State Planning and Road-mapping

• Develop capability views, strategies, architectures, and roadmaps for business and technology capabilities
• Advise functional and technology leaders in defining priorities, key initiatives, and organizational alignment to support informed business decisions
• Evaluate industry and technology trends and translate them into Starbucks-specific strategies, plans, models, principles, and designs across the covered ecosystems

Concept and Business Case Development

• Partner with business capability and technology service owners to develop concepts from ideation through business case, grounded in hands-on technical validation
• Assess the value and impact of emerging technologies by leading opportunity assessments and proofs-of-concept across multiple domains and enterprise programs
• Assist in development of enterprise strategy proposals based on environmental analysis, opportunity identification, value cases, and risk

Solution Design and Facilitation

• Partner with leadership to assess business case for readiness for design across multiple domains and the enterprise
• Develop multiple domain and enterprise solution options across business, information, and technology domains
• Facilitate architectural design and on-going change request approvals for programs across multiple domains
• Manage program and architectural interdependencies between programs across multiple domains and the enterprise
• Facilitating the understanding and adoption of the solution architectures with the capability and service teams
• Maintain architecture artifacts across the business, information, technology, and security architectural domains

Policy Definition and Governance

• Evaluate technology and business changes across the covered platforms for policy impacts
• Govern solution architectures against defined principles, policies, and reference architectures, with particular attention to security standards
• Prepare, champion, and educate client groups and teams on changes in policies and practices across multiple domains and enterprise programs

Managing Teams

• Develop partners indirectly through coaching and mentoring
• Assist in development of strategic and operational plans for the work group
• Support EA managers in promoting a successful attitude, confidence in leadership, and teamwork

Program Management

• Lead the design and shape of programs across multiple domains and the enterprise to introduce strategic technology transformation and change including assisting on the development of business case
• Lead, coordinate, and facilitate cross-functional team members (business and technology) in activities related to architecture as part of the strategic program
• Works with IT PMO, business, and IT to ensure work necessary to achieve strategic programs are included in the Information Technology portfolio and prioritized appropriately

Domain Proficiency

• Demonstrate functional and business knowledge for multiple domain and enterprise context
• Act as a subject matter expert and provide consulting, guidance, and recommendations
• Continuous development of domain knowledge in both the industry and the Starbucks enterprise

Leadership

• Demonstrate accountability and make timely, appropriate decisions across the five platform areas
• Take calculated risks and challenge the status quo, particularly in identifying rationalization and security opportunities
• Develop partnerships and influence others both directly and indirectly
• Motivate and collaborate to create a team environment that enables team-based fulfillment of objectives
• Provide coaching, direction, and leadership support to team members to achieve partner, business, and customer results

Basic Qualifications

• Overall IT experience – 15 years
• Variety of technical environments, systems/application development experience – 10 years
• Architecture experience – 7 years
• Functional and systems modeling – 10 years
• Direct, hands-on experience with at least three of: Azure, AWS, Atlassian (Jira/Confluence), ServiceNow, legal technology platforms
• Indirect people development – 10 years
• Business process and system design – 10 years
• Strategic planning – 4 years
• Financial analysis & business planning – 7 years
• Running technology proof-of-concepts – 10 years
• Demonstrated track record of identifying software rationalization opportunities with measurable cost or complexity impact
• Strong security fundamentals – able to identify and articulate risk without relying solely on a dedicated security team

Preferred Qualifications

Architectural Thinking

• Develop concepts from strategic ideas to detailed logical views, validated through hands-on technical work
• Utilize perception, creativity, transformational ideas, systems thinking, and organizing techniques
• Develop the business case (“why”), conceptual model and vision (“what”), and logical model (“how”) by considering value, risk, opportunities, conditions, themes, and gaps across the five platforms
• Validate that physical models developed by engineering teams translate logical models consistently with desired goals and outcomes
• Demonstrate a bias for action and apply iterative thinking
• Actively contribute to the maturation of the architecture practice through principles, policies, reference artifacts, and reusable patterns

Interpersonal Skills

• Build and maintain influential working relationships at all levels and across the enterprise
• Contribute to a positive team environment by actively promoting a positive, respectful work environment
• Demonstrate effective behaviors to communicate and work with others
• Actively engage and create learning experiences
• Continuously seek to understand and create value from the customer’s perspective
• Demonstrate flexibility and adapt approach and interpersonal style to best meet the needs of the individual customer

As a Starbucks partner, you (and your family) will have access to medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, and other voluntary insurance benefits. Partners have access to short-term and long-term disability, paid parental leave, family expansion reimbursement, paid vacation from date of hire*, sick time (accrued at 1 hour for every 25 hours worked), eight paid holidays, and two personal days per year. Starbucks also offers eligible partners participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, a discounted company stock program (S.I.P.), Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock), incentivized emergency savings, and financial well-being tools. Additionally, Starbucks offers 100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, student loan management resources, and access to other educational opportunities. You will also have access to backup care and DACA reimbursement. Starbucks will comply with any applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, and in accordance with its plans and policies. This list is subject to change depending on collective bargaining in locations where partners have a certified bargaining representative. For additional information regarding partner perks and more detailed information about benefits, go to starbucksbenefits.com.

*If you are working in CA, CO, IL, LA, ME, MA, NE, ND or RI, you will accrue vacation up to a maximum of 120 hours (190 in CA) for roles below director and 200 hours (316 in CA) for roles at director or above. For roles in other states, you will be granted vacation time starting at 120 hours annually for roles below director and 200 hours annually for roles director and above.

The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will be based on multiple factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge/skills, experience, geographical location, and internal equity. At Starbucks, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the high end of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

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Starbucks Coffee Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with all federal, state and local ordinances. Starbucks Coffee Company is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at [email protected] or 1(888) 611-2258.