Principal Software Architect, Workflow Orchestration

Job description

Who are we? Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet. A place where tech thinkers and future builders turn bold ideas into breakthrough experiences, we welcome your unique perspective. Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers—because progress starts with fresh ideas. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you—because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work. Job Summary We are hiring a Principal Software Architect, Workflow Orchestration Platform to help define, design, build, and scale a mission-critical platform that coordinates the operational workflows required to keep our data centers delivering customer outcomes on time and operating at peak efficiency. This platform will serve as a core part of our data center operations technology ecosystem, providing real-time visibility, workflow coordination, operational resiliency, and improved execution across complex data center activities. The role requires a hands-on technical leader who can operate at both the architecture and implementation level while influencing engineering standards, platform direction, and cross-functional technical decisions. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will shape the architecture of distributed, cloud-native systems, guide technical strategy, mentor senior engineers, and partner closely with product, operations, infrastructure, and engineering teams to deliver scalable, reliable, and observable platform capabilities. Responsibilities Platform Architecture and Technical Strategy Define and drive architecture for a cloud-native workflow orchestration platform supporting data center operational execution Design scalable, resilient, and highly available distributed systems that support complex operational workflows across data centers Establish architectural patterns, technical standards, design principles, and engineering practices for the platform Lead technical decision-making across architecture, scalability, resiliency, observability, performance, and maintainability Evaluate technology options and recommend pragmatic solutions that balance speed, reliability, complexity, and long-term platform sustainability Drive cost-aware architecture decisions, balancing performance, scalability, and cloud infrastructure costs across compute, storage, and data transfer Software Engineering and Platform Delivery Build and evolve enterprise-grade services using Java, Spring Boot, React, AWS, Kubernetes, and EKS Design and implement event-driven architectures using Kafka or comparable event-streaming technologies Develop platform capabilities that coordinate workflows, track operational progress, optimize resource utilization, and improve real-time visibility Design and implement services that support high availability, fault tolerance, monitoring, alerting, and production supportability Own end-to-end delivery from technical discovery and design through implementation, deployment, support, and continuous improvement Workflow Orchestration and Distributed Systems Build or integrate workflow orchestration capabilities using tools such as Temporal, Cadence, Airflow, Argo Workflows, AWS Step Functions, or comparable workflow technologies Apply distributed systems design patterns related to consistency, scalability, fault tolerance, retry handling, recovery, and event-driven processing Partner with operations and product stakeholders to translate complex data center execution workflows into scalable platform capabilities Improve operational reliability through observability, monitoring, SLO/SLI thinking, and reliability engineering practices Technical Leadership and Influence Serve as a senior technical advisor to engineering, product, infrastructure, and operations partners Mentor senior engineers and help raise the technical bar through design reviews, code reviews, technical coaching, and architecture discussions Influence platform roadmap decisions through technical insight, business context, and data-driven recommendations Partner across teams to align platform architecture with DIO priorities, operational outcomes, and customer-delivery needs Help build a culture of engineering excellence, ownership, reliability, inclusion, and continuous improvement Author architecture decision records (ADRs) and lead architecture review forums to drive alignment, document rationale, and maintain a durable record of key technical decisions Qualifications 12+ years of software engineering experience designing, building, and operating enterprise-grade software systems Significant experience defining architecture for distributed, cloud-native platforms Hands-on experience with Java, Spring Boot, microservices, and modern frontend frameworks such as React Experience designing and operating highly available, observable, resilient, and scalable production systems Experience with cloud-native engineering practices, including AWS, Kubernetes, containerized workloads, or EKS Experience influencing technical direction across engineering teams, complex platform domains, or cross-functional initiatives Demonstrated experience mentoring engineers, leading design reviews, and improving engineering practices Experience leading or contributing to large-scale technical transformation programs, including legacy system migration, platform modernization, or organizational adoption of new architectural standards Preferred Qualifications Experience with workflow orchestration platforms such as Temporal, Cadence, Airflow, Argo Workflows, AWS Step Functions, or similar technologies Experience with Kafka or comparable event-streaming platforms Experience with PostgreSQL or comparable relational database technologies Experience with observability, monitoring, alerting, incident response, SRE practices, SLOs, SLIs, and reliability engineering Experience building platforms for operational workflows, infrastructure management, logistics, field operations, resource optimization, or mission-critical execution Experience establishing engineering standards, architecture review practices, design governance, or reusable platform patterns Experience working in complex, global, or highly matrixed technology environments Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience What We Are Building Coordinate and manage complex workflows required to deliver customer work on time Provide real-time tracking and visibility into operational activities Improve operational efficiency and resource utilization Increase reliability, scalability, and resilience across global infrastructure Enable better decision-making through modern platform capabilities, observability, and automation Why Join Us Work on mission-critical systems that directly impact customer delivery and data center operations Influence platform architecture, technology direction, and engineering standards Solve complex distributed systems challenges using a modern cloud-native stack Partner with experienced engineers, product leaders, operations teams, and infrastructure stakeholders Help build a platform that improves reliability, visibility, and execution across global data center operations The targeted pay range for this position in the following location is / locations are: United States - Dallas Infomart Office DAI : 155,000 - 233,000 USD / Annual Our pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and location. The pay range shown is based on our compensation structure in place at the time of posting and may be updated periodically based on business needs. Individual pay is based on additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training. The targeted pay range listed reflects the base pay only and does not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Employees are eligible for bonus, and equity may be offered depending on the position. Equinix Benefits As an employee, you become important to Equinix’s success. We ensure all your benefits are in line with our core values: competitive, inclusive, sustainable, connected and efficient. We keep them competitive within the current marketplace to ensure we’re providing you with the best package possible. So, wherever you are in your career and life, you’ll be able to enhance your experience and bring your whole self to work. Employee Assistance Program : An Employee Assistance program is available to all employees. US Benefits: - Insurance: You may enroll in health, life, disability and voluntary plans that are designed for you and your eligible family members. - Retirement: You and Equinix may contribute to a retirement plan to help you plan for your financial future. - Paid Time Off (PTO) and Paid Holidays: You will receive an accrued amount of PTO each pay period along with various paid holidays for you to rest and recharge. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific plan or program terms. Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability. If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form . Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law. We use artificial intelligence in our hiring process. Learn more here . This posting is a new position within our organization.