Principal Software Engineer - Platform Engineering

About the job

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

This is a hybrid role based out of Palo Alto, CA. Hybrid is 3 days a week onsite, 2 days a week remote.

SAP Business Network is seeking a Principal Software Engineer - Platform Engineering - to serve as a senior technical leader on the US Navy Business Network (PPS) program. One of SAP's highest-priority and most strategically significant government engagements.

In this role, you will own the concept, design, and delivery of complex product features within SAP Business Network. Setting the technical direction for the team and ensuring that engineering outcomes meet both SAP's quality standards and the exacting demands of a mission-critical government customer. You will be recognized internally and externally as a subject matter expert, providing definitive technical guidance and advancing innovation across the program.

SAP Business Network connects buyers and suppliers globally, enabling seamless procurement, invoicing, and supply chain collaboration at enterprise scale. The US Navy Business Network (PPS) program extends this platform to one of the world's most complex procurement environments. Requiring deep technical expertise, rigorous security compliance, and the ability to deliver reliable software in a regulated government context.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will work at the intersection of product innovation and mission-critical reliability.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the technical design and end-to-end delivery of complex product features within SAP Business Network for the US Navy PPS program, including concept, architecture, coding, testing, and quality assurance.
• Drive architectural and technical decisions for program components, ensuring alignment with SAP Business Network platform standards, product strategy, and government security requirements.
• Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex engineering issues, providing expert guidance and definitive technical direction to the development team.
• Define technical deliverables and provide strategic recommendations that influence future product and architectural decisions.
• Provide technical leadership across the engineering organization, mentoring and upskilling senior developers while establishing a culture of engineering excellence and well-developed Agile practices.
• Apply expert-level product and technical knowledge to evaluate industry trends, solve complex problems, and guide teams beyond the immediate scope of the role.
• Champion continuous improvement across development methodologies, tooling, automation, and quality assurance practices to establish state-of-the-art software engineering processes.
• Manage high-volume, high-risk, and complex projects, maintaining milestone tracking, project status, and technical updates for program management and key stakeholders.
• Serve as SAP's senior technical representative to US Navy customers and strategic partners. Building trusted relationships and communicating technical direction, delivery progress, and quality expectations.

What you bring:

• U.S. Citizenship: Must be a U.S. Citizen due to the requirements associated with supporting U.S. public sector customers and government environments.
• 10+ years of professional software development experience with a proven track record of leading complex, enterprise-scale product delivery
• Expert-level proficiency in one or more of: Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or equivalent languages in a cloud-native production environment
• Deep knowledge of distributed systems architecture, microservices design, RESTful/OData API development, and modern cloud platforms (SAP BTP, AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Extensive experience designing and implementing event-driven architectures, including Kafka-based event streaming, asynchronous communication, and reliable event processing across distributed systems.
• Strong experience with long-running, distributed workflows, including Temporal or similar workflow orchestration technologies, with a focus on reliability, fault tolerance, state management, and recovery.
• Experience leading or contributing to large-scale data platform migrations, including migration from legacy or existing data platforms to Databricks, with consideration for data integrity, performance, scalability, and operational continuity.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-complexity technical projects, define deliverables, and ensure milestones are met within approved scope
• Robust communication skills: able to formulate clear technical plans, communicate with constructive feedback, and represent SAP credibly to customers and partners
• Comfortable with both deep technical contribution and cross-functional stakeholder management
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline (or equivalent practical experience)

Preferred qualifications:

• Hands-on product development experience with SAP Business Network, SAP Ariba, or related procurement platforms
• Prior experience delivering software for government, defense, or other regulated industry customers
• Familiarity with SAP BTP services, CAPM framework, SAP Integration Suite, event-driven architecture, and long running workflows.
• Experience acting as a Scrum Master or technical servant-leader within an agile/LEAN development team
• Knowledge of procurement, supply chain, or spend management domain processes

Meet your team:

You will join SAP Business Network's engineering organization in Palo Alto, contributing as a senior technical leader on the US Navy Business Network (PPS). The team is constructed of skilled engineers passionate about building enterprise-grade procurement technology that operates at government scale.

You will collaborate closely with product management, solution architects, security and compliance specialists, and directly with US Navy customer stakeholders. Making a tangible impact on how global procurement operates for one of the world's most complex organizations.