Sr. Principal Engineer, Employee Experience (Hybrid - Seattle, WA)

Job Description

At Nordstrom, we're committed to delivering outstanding customer experiences by harnessing the power of data. We are seeking a Sr. Principal Engineer - Employee Experience to join our Technology team. In this role you will define and drive the technical strategy, architecture, and engineering standards for the systems that power Nordstrom's financial operations, people process, and workplace collaboration. This work spans enterprise finance and ERP systems, HR and talent platforms, and the productivity and collaboration tools tens of thousands of Nordstrom employees rely on every day.

This is a strategic, influence-driven role that will shape how engineering teams design, secure, and scale the technology behind Finance, HR, and the Nordstrom workplace experience for years to come. You will collaborate with executives and leaders across Finance, HR, Nordstrom Technology, and business functions to translate enterprise priorities into technical roadmaps, establishing the architectural foundations that enable operational excellence, employee experience, and AI-enabled productivity. If you're passionate about enterprise engineering and ready to make a lasting impact on how Nordstrom works, we want to hear from you.

A day in the life…

• Define Enterprise Technology Strategy: Develop and communicate a multi-year technical vision and roadmap for Finance, HR, Productivity and Collaboration systems, aligned with enterprise architecture, cloud strategy, and AI ambitions.

• Architect Core Business Systems: Own architecture and design patterns across financial systems (ERP, procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, financial planning), HR systems (Human Capital Management, commissions, recruiting, work force management), and productivity/collaboration platforms (M365, messaging, workflow, and service management tools). Establish SaaS integration patterns, API standards, event schema and data contracts connecting these systems to the rest of the enterprise.

• Lead Complex, Cross-Functional Initiatives: Lead design and delivery of large-scale initiatives, including platform modernizations, vendor migrations, technical debt deprecations and system consolidations, that span multiple engineering teams and business functions.

• Ensure Security, Compliance, and Resilience: Define architecture patterns for identity, access control, and data protection appropriate to sensitive financial and HR data. Partner with security, privacy, and compliance teams to meet PCI, SOC, data privacy, and audit requirements.

• Enable AI and Automation: Identify opportunities to apply AI, AI Native automation, SaaS AI features and self-service capabilities to finance, HR, and workplace processes. Guide teams evaluating AI-enabled tools, including conversational assistants, intelligent document processing, and workflow automation, for productivity and collaboration use cases.

• Build Engineering Culture and Talent: Set technical standards and best practices across the Finance, HR, and Productivity & Collaboration engineering portfolio. Mentor senior and principal engineers, participate in architecture reviews, and advise on technical career growth and promotions.
  
  

You own this if you have…

• Extensive Experience: 15+ years in software engineering, systems architecture, or platform engineering, with demonstrated progression to strategic, enterprise-scope technical leadership.

• Domain Breadth: Hands-on experience architecting or engineering solutions across enterprise finance systems (ERP, GL, procure-to-pay), HR/HCM platforms (e.g., Workday or similar), and productivity/collaboration tools (e.g., Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, Slack).

• Integration and Data Expertise: Deep expertise in enterprise integration patterns, APIs, event-driven architecture, and the data flows connecting core business systems.

• Strategic Influence: Demonstrated ability to lead through influence rather than authority, building consensus with engineering, product, and business stakeholders.

• Security and Compliance Fluency: Working knowledge of the security, privacy, and regulatory considerations (Segregation of Duties, SOC, data privacy, access governance) relevant to financial and employee data systems.

• Platform Proficiency: Expertise with multiple cloud platforms (AWS & GCP preferred), modern application architectures, and enterprise SaaS ecosystems sufficient to evaluate build-vs-buy tradeoffs.

• Business Acumen: Ability to connect technical architecture to business outcomes and communicate value to executive stakeholders across Finance, HR, and Technology.

• Collaborative Leadership: Track record of developing engineering talent and building cross-functional partnerships across teams you don't directly manage.

Pay Range Details

The pay range(s) below has been provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different for other locations.
Pay offers are dependent on the location, as well as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

We’ve got you covered…

Our employees are our most important asset and that’s reflected in our benefits. Nordstrom is proud to offer a variety of benefits to support employees and their families, including:

• Medical/Vision, Dental, Retirement and Paid Time Away
• Life Insurance and Disability
• Merchandise Discount and EAP Resources

A few more important points...

The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, responsibilities and qualifications for this job.

For Los Angeles or San Francisco applicants: Nordstrom is required to inform you that we conduct background checks after conditional offer and consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with legal requirements per Los Angeles, Cal. Muni. Code 189.04 and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For additional state and location specific notices, please refer to the Legal Notices document within the FAQ section of the Nordstrom Careers site.

Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation should contact the nearest Nordstrom location, which can be identified at www.nordstrom.com.

Please be mindful that there may be legal notices and requirements related to this job posting that are specific to your state. Review the Career Site FAQ’s for relevant information and guidelines.

Current Nordstrom employees: To apply, log into Workday, click the Careers button and then click Find Jobs.

About Us

We’re a fast-moving fashion company that started as a shoe store in 1901. This heritage of service is the foundation we’re building on as we provide convenience and true connection for our customers. We empower our people to be innovative, creative and focused on providing the best service to our customers. Through it all, we remain committed to leaving the world better than we found it.

Whether you’re a genius engineer, a phenomenal salesperson or a supply chain pro, we invite you to bring your unique talents and join our team. We reward great work, promote from within and celebrate diversity.

CUSTOMER OBSESSED
We strive to know our customers better than anyone else. We listen, anticipate, build trust and move with speed to deliver on their needs.

OWNERS AT HEART
We treat every interaction as an opportunity to make an impact and deliver excellence.

CURIOUS AND EVER CHANGING
We approach problems with curiosity and create solutions. We unlock potential to be bold, think big and inspire innovation.

HERE TO WIN
We’re committed to delivering results, both today and tomorrow. We win as a team by supporting and challenging one another to be better every day.

WE EXTEND OURSELVES
We treat each other with respect and kindness. We do the small things that make a big difference. We create a welcoming environment, helping people feel connected, valued and part of one community.

Come on! Join us!