Data Engineer, Principal

KeHE Distributors; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 108,680 - 159,236; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Employee stock ownership (ESOP)

Job summary

KeHE Distributors is looking for a Principal DEA Engineer to lead architectural standards and drive technical strategy for scalable solutions. This full-time role focuses on mentoring engineers and collaborating with product teams to deliver reliable products.

Qualified candidates will have 7+ years in software development, expertise in cloud platforms, and a Bachelor’s degree in a related field. This opportunity is based in Naperville, Illinois, with a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software development, preferably in a product-centric environment.
• Expertise in modern development stacks and cloud platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality software solutions.

Responsibilities

• Architect complex systems and set engineering standards.
• Define target architectures ensuring scalability and security.
• Partner with product leaders to translate strategy into architectural initiatives.
• Design scalable capabilities including APIs and data models.

Skills

Design and guide complex distributed systems

Deep expertise in cloud platforms

Mentoring engineers

Service reliability and monitoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

Tools

C#

Python

Angular

SQL

AWS/Azure/GCP

Job description

Pay & Benefits

Pay Range: $108,680.00 per year – $159,236.00 per year.

Benefits on Day 1: Health/Rx, Dental, Vision, Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA), Supplemental life insurance, 401(k), Paid time off, Paid sick time, Short term & long term disability coverage (STD/LTD), Employee stock ownership (ESOP), Holiday pay for company designated holidays.

Why Work for KeHE?

Full-time.

Overview

At KeHE, we’re obsessed with creating solutions, unboxing potential, and serving others - and it all starts with you. As an employee‑owned distributor of natural and organic, specialty, and fresh products, we’re committed to making a positive impact and scaling our success together. With a culture that fosters development and opportunity, you’ll embark on a career that’s moving forward. When you join KeHE, you’re becoming part of a team that is a force for good.

Primary Responsibilities

The Principal DEA Engineer serves as a technical leader, architecting complex systems and setting engineering standards that enable product teams to deliver scalable, reliable, and secure solutions in a timely fashion. This role partners closely with product and design to shape technical strategy, drive platform innovation, and mentor engineers within and across teams.

Essential Functions

• Define and guide target architectures for complex systems and platforms, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, extensible, and aligned with enterprise engineering standards.
• Lead architectural design reviews and technical decision‑making, documenting trade‑offs and guiding engineering teams in adopting consistent patterns and best practices across the technology stack.
• Partner with product and business leaders to translate strategic outcomes into architectural initiatives, evaluating value, risk, and effort while enabling iterative delivery of high‑impact capabilities.
• Design and evolve scalable platform capabilities, including resilient APIs, event‑driven architectures, caching strategies, and data models that support performance, reliability, and long‑term growth.
• Advance DevOps, CI/CD, and cloud engineering practices, standardizing pipelines, enforcing build quality and security gates, and implementing infrastructure‑as‑code for consistent and compliant environments.
• Improve system reliability, observability, and operational maturity, defining service‑level objectives, implementing monitoring and tracing practices, and leading architectural improvements based on incident learnings.
• Mentor engineers and influence engineering practices across teams, running design reviews and technical forums, coaching engineers on architectural thinking, and promoting adoption of modern engineering practices.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

• Ability to design and guide complex distributed systems and platform architectures that balance scalability, performance, reliability, and security.
• Deep expertise in cloud platforms, DevOps practices, and modern engineering architecture such as microservices, event‑driven systems, and resilient API design.
• Ability to translate business and product strategy into architectural direction and platform investments that enable faster product delivery and improved system capabilities.
• Expertise in service reliability, monitoring, tracing, and incident management practices that improve system performance and operational resilience.
• Ability to mentor engineers, lead architectural discussions, influence cross‑team decisions, and drive adoption of engineering standards across the organization.

Minimum Requirements, Qualifications, Additional Skills, Aptitude

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• 7+ years of experience in software development, preferably in a product‑centric or agile environment.
• Expertise in modern development stacks (C#, Python, Angular, SQL) and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Proven experience in architecture, platform engineering, and cloud‑native solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field preferred or similar coding education alternatives to traditional four‑year degrees.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high‑quality software solutions and contribute to team success.
• Participation in training, certifications, or professional development initiatives is a plus.
• Experience with modern development tools, version control systems, and CI/CD pipelines is preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job.

Equal Employer Opportunity Statement

KeHE Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion or faith, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training as well as the administration of all Human Resources and Talent Acquisition processes.