Director, Software Engineering (POS)

PETCO Animal Supplies Stores, Inc.; Natick (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. seeks a technology leader to define and execute the vision for its Point-of-Sale engineering. Lead architecture and delivery of cloud-enabled, scalable solutions powering millions of customer interactions across store and digital channels.

You will partner with product leadership to align roadmaps with business goals, drive modernization, and cultivate a high-performing distributed engineering team while ensuring security, reliability, and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering or related fields, or equivalent work experience.
• 12+ years of IT and business experience leading large cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Advanced knowledge of SDLC, QA, and project management.
• Proven leadership of engineering teams for enterprise POS platforms.
• Experience delivering large-scale retail or commerce initiatives.
• Strong understanding of omnichannel retail architecture and customer experiences.
• Experience with payment processing, loyalty platforms, and PCI compliance.
• Experience partnering with Product Management to define roadmaps and prioritize investments.
• Experience leading distributed teams across onshore/offshore/nearshore models.
• Strong executive presence communicating with Directors, VPs, and senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Define the engineering vision and execution strategy for Petco's POS platform.
• Drive modernization across POS applications, commerce services, and retail systems.
• Lead architecture and delivery of scalable, cloud-enabled solutions for thousands of stores.
• Partner with Product leaders to translate business strategy into technical solutions.
• Champion engineering excellence with modern practices, automation, and CI/CD.
• Oversee platform enhancements balancing innovation, stability, and security.
• Provide technical leadership for complex enterprise initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve speed, reliability, and scalability of retail tech.
• Lead and develop distributed engineering teams and foster a high-performing culture.
• Communicate strategy and progress to Directors, VPs, and senior leaders.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices

GraphQL

Apache Kafka

AWS Cloud

Linux/Windows

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Engineering

Job description

Want to help pets live their best lives?

We're proud to be where the pets go and where the pet people go. If you want to make a real difference, create an exciting career path, feel welcome to be your whole self and nurture your wellbeing, Petco is the place for you.

Our core values capture that spirit as we work to improve lives by doing what's right for pets and people.

• Pet First – Protect & Empower. All pets should Live their Best Life. We put the needs of pets and pet parents at the center of everything we do.
• Foster the Fun – Connect & Bond. Our Passion for pets brings us together! We celebrate the journey of pet parenthood through distinct experiences, products, and services.
• Let's Go! Own & Commit. We are stronger as One Petco team. We bring our unique superpowers and champion authenticity in everyone to drive success.

About Petco:

We're proud to be "where the pets go" to find everything they need to live their best lives for more than 60 years - from their favorite meals and toys, to trusted supplies and expert support from people who get it, because we live it. We believe in the universal truths of pet parenthood - the boundless boops, missing slippers, late night zoomies and everything in between. And we're here for it. Every tail wag, every vet visit, every step of the way. We are 29,000+ strong and together we nurture the pet-human bond in more than 1,500 Petco stores across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, 250+ Vetco Total Care hospitals, hundreds of preventive care clinics and eight distribution centers. In 1999, we founded Petco Love. Together, we support thousands of local animal welfare groups nationwide and have helped find homes for approximately 7 million animals through in-store adoption events.

Director, Point-of-Sale (POS) Engineering

As Director of POS Engineering, you'll lead the technology powering millions of customer transactions while helping redefine the modern retail experience. This is an opportunity to transform our Point-of-Sale ecosystem into a connected, cloud-enabled commerce platform that seamlessly brings together stores, digital channels, loyalty, payments, and customer experiences.

If you're passionate about modern engineering, large-scale distributed systems, and building high-performing teams that solve complex business challenges, we'd love to meet you.

What You'll Do

As the technology leader for Petco's Point of Sale platform, you'll define the engineering vision and execution strategy for one of the company's most business-critical systems.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Define and execute the long-term engineering strategy and technical roadmap for Petco's Point of Sale ecosystem.
• Drive modernization initiatives across POS applications, commerce services, and supporting retail systems.
• Lead the architecture and delivery of scalable, resilient, cloud-enabled solutions that support thousands of stores and millions of customer interactions.
• Partner with Product leaders to translate business strategy into innovative technical solutions that improve customer and associate experiences.
• Champion engineering excellence through modern software development practices, automation, observability, and continuous delivery.
• Oversee ongoing platform enhancements while balancing innovation, stability, security, and operational excellence.
• Provide technical leadership for complex enterprise initiatives involving multiple systems and business stakeholders.
• Identify technology opportunities that improve speed, reliability, scalability, and the overall retail experience.
• Lead and develop distributed engineering teams while fostering a collaborative, high-performing engineering culture.
• Communicate technology strategy, priorities, and execution updates to Directors, Vice Presidents, and other senior business leaders.

What You Bring

We're looking for a technology leader who combines deep engineering expertise with strong business partnership and people leadership.

Key distinction of job level:

• Leads large cross functional teams that work on the most complex business issues
• Minimal supervision with wide latitude for independent judgment. Provides solutions to issues utilizing judgment.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering or other related fields, or equivalent work experience.
• 12+ years of IT and business industry work experience in managing multiple, large, cross-functional teams or projects, and influencing senior level management and key stakeholders.
• Requires advanced technical and business knowledge in software development life cycle, quality assurance, project management and other related disciplines/processes.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams responsible for enterprise Point of Sale (POS) platforms.
• Experience delivering large-scale, highly available retail or commerce technology initiatives.
• Strong understanding of omnichannel retail architecture and customer commerce experiences.
• Experience with payment processing, payment gateways, loyalty platforms, and PCI compliance principles.
• Experience partnering with Product Management to define roadmaps and prioritize engineering investments.
• Demonstrated success leading geographically distributed engineering teams across onshore, offshore, and nearshore delivery models.
• Strong executive presence with experience influencing Directors, Vice Presidents, and senior business leaders.

Technical Expertise

Experience leading engineering organizations building modern applications using technologies such as:

• Java
• Spring Boot
• Microservices Architecture
• GraphQL
• Apache Kafka
• AWS Cloud Services
• Linux and/or Windows environments

Experience with cloud-native architecture, APIs, distributed systems, event-driven design, CI/CD, and modern engineering practices is highly valued.

Why Petco?

Technology at Petco directly impacts how millions of pet parents care for the pets they love. From checkout experiences and loyalty rewards to connected commerce and veterinary services, our engineering teams build platforms that make every interaction simpler, faster, and more meaningful.

If you're excited by modernizing enterprise retail technology, leading exceptional engineering teams, and helping shape the future of omnichannel commerce, we'd love to have you on our team.

#LI-CS1

#CORP

Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or any other protected classification.

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