Principal Software Engineer

Sprouts Farmers Market; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Vacation accrual plan

15% discount for you and a household

Flexible schedules

Employee Assistance Program

401(k) with company match

Company paid life insurance

DailyPay access

Job summary

Sprouts Farmers Market is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive the design, architecture, and delivery of large-scale AI-powered systems across retail platforms. You will lead AI initiatives from concept to production, influence engineering direction, and ensure scalable, reliable systems aligned with business outcomes.

This role emphasizes MLOps, governance, and collaboration with Product to shape technical direction, improve performance, and deliver store intelligence, autonomous

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering with 2+ years in AI/ML.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems and cloud-native architectures.
• Hands-on with Generative AI, LLMs, and data pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of large-scale AI/ML systems.
• Define reference architectures for AI and platform systems.
• Drive production readiness with observability, resilience, and cost efficiency.
• Partner with Product and Business teams to shape technical direction.

Skills

Distributed systems

Cloud-native architecture

AI/ML systems

Generative AI / LLMs

Data pipelines

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

AWS

GCP

Job description

Overview

The Principal Software Engineer is a

The Principal Software Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for driving the design, architecture, and delivery of large-scale AI-powered systems across retail platforms. This role leads complex AI initiatives from concept to production, influences engineering direction, and ensures systems are scalable, reliable, and aligned with business outcomes.

Overview Of Responsibilities

Advanced AI System Design

• Lead design and development of complex AI/ML systems at scale
• Translate ambiguous business problems into robust system architectures
• Select models and frameworks based on:
  • Performance
  • Explainability
  • Operational constraints
• Define reusable:
  • AI platforms
  • Frameworks
  • Service patterns

Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Define reference architectures for AI and platform systems
• Lead design for:
  • Distributed systems
  • Real-time inference
  • Agentic workflows
• Ensure systems meet:
  • Scalability
  • Reliability
  • Cost efficiency

AI Innovation & Retail Impact

• Identify and drive high-impact AI use cases:
  • Store intelligence
  • Associate copilots
  • Inventory optimization
• Build:
  • Agentic AI workflows
  • Autonomous systems
  • Intelligent decision engines

MLOps & Platform Excellence

• Define and standardize:
  • Model lifecycle management
  • Monitoring and observability
  • Evaluation frameworks
• Establish best practices for:
  • AI governance
  • Responsible AI
  • System reliability

Product & Business Influence

• Partner with Product and Business teams to:
  • Shape technical direction
  • Influence solution design
  • Ensure alignment with outcomes
• Provide technical leadership in:
  • Trade-offs
  • Feasibility
  • Scalability decisions

Production & Operational Leadership (Build + Run)

• Ensure systems are:
  • Production-ready
  • Observable
  • Maintainable
• Lead resolution of:
  • Critical production issues
  • System performance challenges
• Improve system resilience and uptime

Technical Mentorship & Influence

• Mentor engineers and technical leads
• Drive engineering standards and best practices
• Influence architecture and design across teams

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering and 2 years in AI/ML
• Deep expertise in:
  • Distributed systems
  • Cloud-native architecture
  • AI/ML systems
• Hands‑on experience with:
  • Generative AI / LLMs
  • Agentic AI systemsData pipelines

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading large-scale AI initiatives
• Strong background in:
  • Real-time systems
  • High-scale platforms
  • AI observability

Core Competencies

• Communication
• Customer Focus
• Driving for Results
• Positive Approach

Benefits

In addition to a rewarding career, Sprouts offers a comprehensive program to help support you and your family. These programs include:

• Competitive pay
• Sick time plan that you can use to support you or your immediate families health
• Vacation accrual plan
• Opportunities for career growth
• 15% discount for you and one other family member in your household on all purchases made at Sprouts
• Flexible schedules
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401(K) Retirement savings plan with a generous company match
• Company paid life insurance
• Contests and appreciation events throughout the year full of prizes, food and fun!

Eligibility Requirements May Apply For The Following Benefits

• Bonus based on company and/or individual performance
• Affordable benefit coverage, including medical, dental and vision
• Health Savings Account with company match
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care
• Company paid short-term disability coverage
• Paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers
• Paid holidays

Get Paid Every Day!

Sprouts Farmers Market offers DailyPay - if you’re hired as an eligible employee, you’ll be able to transfer the money you’ve already earned at no extra cost, and get it the next business day, for free. We offer DailyPay so you don’t have to wait for payday to access the money you’ve already worked for. With DailyPay, you can see how much you’ve made every day and you can transfer your money any time before payday.

You can learn more by visiting https://www.dailypay.com/partners/sprouts-farmers-market/.

Why Sprouts

Grow with us!

If you have a passion for inspiring people and a flair for fresh food, consider applying for a job at Sprouts! With a focus on customer service, our neighborhood grocery stores offer high-quality, farm fresh produce, natural meats, plenty of scoop-your-own bulk goods and much more in a fun, friendly, old‑fashioned farmer’s market setting. Come grow your career in healthy living with a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and teams that pride themselves on empowering others along their journey.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people assigned to this work. This is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Sprouts’ management reserves the right to amend and change duties, responsibilities, and requirements to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.

Sprouts will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance.

California Residents: We collect information in accordance with California law, please see here for more information.