Lead Software Engineer, ITC

Nike Inc; Karnataka; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Nike, Inc. India Technology Center is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for cloud control plane engineering across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup platforms. You will write and review production-grade Go, mentor engineers, and guide complex modernization efforts.

The role requires deep Kubernetes-native control plane experience, Crossplane, and infrastructure-as-code expertise, with opportunity to influence architecture and roadmaps globally.

Qualifications

• 7-10+ years of professional software engineering experience building cloud infrastructure platforms, control planes, distributed systems, or backend services at meaningful scale.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Deep hands-on experience with Go and Kubernetes, including production-grade services, APIs, controllers, or operator-style software.
• Experience with Crossplane, AWS, Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code approaches; Azure experience is a plus.
• Experience owning production software, participating in on-call rotations, and serving as an escalation point for operational incidents.
• Ability to mentor engineers, lead design reviews, set technical standards, and drive multi-quarter initiatives across distributed teams.
• Rust programming experience, open-source Kubernetes ecosystem contributions, or platform automation experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical design and delivery for Kubernetes-native control plane capabilities across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup platforms.
• Design and evolve Crossplane compositions, APIs, and platform abstractions for reusable control plane capabilities.
• Build and review Go-based services, Kubernetes controllers, CRDs, and integration patterns to manage desired state and drift.
• Migrate legacy provisioning workflows into declarative Kubernetes/Crossplane models with safe rollout sequencing.
• Establish engineering standards for code review, test strategy, release safety, and observability.
• Partner with product and global teams to align roadmap priorities and architectural decisions.
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the bar for cloud-native platform engineering practices.

Skills

Go

Kubernetes

Rust

Leadership

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in CS/Engineering

Tools

Crossplane

Terraform

AWS

Azure

Job description

WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH

The Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup engineering teams build and operate cloud-native control plane capabilities that standardize how infrastructure services are provisioned, governed, and operated across Nike. These teams partner globally to modernize legacy workflows and improve platform reliability, security, and developer experience. You will partner with engineering managers, senior engineers, principal engineers, product managers, and global platform teams to evolve shared control plane patterns across domains. This role is based in the Nike India Technology Center and works closely with teams in Beaverton and PHK to align architecture, roadmap priorities, and operational practices.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Nike is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to provide technical leadership for cloud control plane engineering across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup platforms. This is a high-ownership, hands‑on engineering leadership role for someone who can go deep in architecture, write and review production-quality Go, and guide engineers through complex platform modernization efforts. The ideal candidate brings strong experience with Kubernetes‑native control planes, Crossplane, AWS, Infrastructure as Code, and production operations. They can lead design reviews, make technical trade‑offs visible, mentor engineers, and help migrate legacy provisioning workflows into declarative Kubernetes/Crossplane operating models.

• 7-10+ years of professional software engineering experience building cloud infrastructure platforms, control planes, distributed systems, or backend services at meaningful scale.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Deep hands‑on experience with Go and Kubernetes, including production‑grade services, APIs, controllers, or operator‑style software.
• Experience with Crossplane, AWS, Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code approaches; Azure experience is a plus.
• Experience owning production software, participating in on‑call rotations, and serving as an escalation point for operational incidents.
• Ability to mentor engineers, lead design reviews, set technical standards, and drive multi‑quarter initiatives across distributed teams.
• Rust programming experience, open‑source Kubernetes ecosystem contributions, or platform automation experience is a plus.

WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON

You will lead technical design and delivery for Kubernetes‑native control plane capabilities that move infrastructure provisioning from legacy workflows into declarative, policy‑driven, and self‑service models. NIKE, Inc. Job Description Template

• You will design and evolve Crossplane compositions, APIs, and platform abstractions that support reusable control plane capabilities across Cloud Edge, Storage, and Backup domains.
• You will build and review Go‑based services, Kubernetes controllers, CRDs, and integration patterns that reconcile desired state, manage drift, and support safe platform operations.
• You will help migrate legacy provisioning and operational workflows into declarative Kubernetes/Crossplane models with clear sequencing, rollout safety, and operational guardrails.
• You will establish engineering standards for code review, test strategy, release safety, documentation, observability, and operational readiness.
• You will partner with product, engineering management, principal engineers, and global teams to align roadmap priorities and architecture decisions.
• You will mentor senior and mid‑level engineers while raising the bar for cloud‑native platform engineering practices.
• You will serve as a production escalation anchor, participate in on‑call practices, and identify opportunities to use automation and AI‑assisted workflows to reduce toil.