Director Software Engineering, Managed Database, ITC

Nike; Karnataka; On-site; INR 7,000,000 - 12,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Nike seeks a hands-on engineering leader to head the Managed Database Platform within the Foundational Platforms group. You will drive platform-wide Kubernetes/Crossplane initiatives, architect scalable APIs, and guide multi-cloud database services across AWS, GCP, and Azure.

The role emphasizes developer experience, reliability, and operational excellence. You will mentor distributed teams, collaborate with product and operations, and ensure compliant, secure, and highly available database

Qualifications

• 15+ years in software engineering, with at least 5 years leading platform teams in large-scale, cloud-native environments
• Deep hands-on expertise with Kubernetes and Crossplane as universal control planes for infrastructure provisioning and lifecycle management
• Strong experience architecting, deploying, and operating managed database services: DynamoDB, RDS, MySQL, Postgres, Aurora, OpenSearch, MemoryDB
• Proven ability to build and scale platforms, including declarative APIs, composable abstractions, and self-service developer workflows
• Familiarity with GitOps, Infrastructure-as-Code, and cloud provider APIs (AWS, Azure)
• Demonstrated leadership in geographically distributed teams, mentoring, and talent development
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field; Master’s preferred; Certifications in cloud/Kubernetes/database a plus

Responsibilities

• Lead the MDDS engineering team, including platform roadmap, delivery, and operational excellence
• Architect and implement scalable, declarative APIs for database provisioning and lifecycle management using Kubernetes and Crossplane
• Oversee migration of legacy databases to modern managed services (DynamoDB, RDS, Aurora, Postgres)
• Drive compliance, security, HA/DR, and cost transparency across all platform offerings
• Foster a culture of innovation, reliability, and continuous improvement within the team
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to deliver business value and accelerate product delivery
• Mentor and develop engineering talent, promoting diversity and growth
• Represent Nike in platform engineering forums to share best practices

Skills

Kubernetes

Crossplane

Cloud platforms

Multi-cloud

Platform leadership

DevOps / GitOps

Communication

Education

Bachelor's in CS

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

DynamoDB

RDS

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Aurora

OpenSearch

MemoryDB

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Who You’ll Work With

You’ll lead the Managed Database Platform engineering team within Nike’s Foundational Platforms group. The team partners closely with Platform Engineering, Observability, and Data Integration teams, collaborating with product, business, and operations stakeholders to deliver scalable, secure, and compliant database services across Nike’s global technology.

Who We Are Looking For

Nike seeks a hands-on engineering leader with deep expertise in cloud-native platforms, Kubernetes, and Crossplane. The ideal candidate has a strong background in building and scaling managed database platforms, with direct experience in AWS, GCP, and Azure database services (DynamoDB, RDS, MySQL, Postgres, Aurora, OpenSearch, MemoryDB). You are passionate about platform-first architecture, developer experience, and operational excellence. You thrive in complex, multi-cloud environments, and have a proven track record of leading distributed teams to deliver resilient, extensible systems.

Key Qualifications

• 15+ years in software engineering, with at least 5 years leading platform teams in large-scale, cloud-native environments (retail or tech preferred)
• Deep hands-on expertise with Kubernetes and Crossplane as universal control planes for infrastructure provisioning and lifecycle management
• Strong experience architecting, deploying, and operating managed database services: DynamoDB, RDS, MySQL, Postgres, Aurora, OpenSearch, MemoryDB
• Proven ability to build and scale platforms, including declarative APIs, composable abstractions, and self-service developer workflows
• Familiarity with GitOps, Infrastructure-as-Code, and cloud provider APIs (AWS, Azure)
• Demonstrated leadership in geographically distributed teams, mentoring, and talent development
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field (Master’s preferred); equivalent experience considered
• Professional certifications in cloud, Kubernetes, or database technologies a plus
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in engineering, 5+ in platform leadership
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or equivalent experience preferred
• Certifications: AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, Database (optional but valued)

What You’ll Work On

You will architect, build, and scale Nike’s Managed Database Platform, delivering secure, compliant, and highly available database services to engineering teams worldwide. You’ll drive adoption of Kubernetes and Crossplane as the universal control plane, enabling self-service provisioning and lifecycle management of cloud databases. You’ll partner with product, business, and operations leaders to align technology strategy with commercial outcomes, and lead migration initiatives for legacy and brownfield workloads.

Your Responsibilities Include

• Lead the engineering team responsible for Nike’s Managed Database Deployment Service (MDDS), including platform roadmap, delivery, and operational excellence
• Architect and implement scalable, declarative APIs for database provisioning and lifecycle management using Kubernetes and Crossplane
• Oversee migration of legacy and brownfield databases to modern managed services (DynamoDB, RDS, Aurora, Postgres, etc.)
• Drive compliance, security, HA/DR, and cost transparency across all platform offerings
• Foster a culture of innovation, reliability, and continuous improvement within the team
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to deliver business value and accelerate product delivery
• Mentor and develop engineering talent, promoting diversity, inclusion, and growth

Represent Nike in platform engineering forums, sharing best practices and driving industry leadership