Principal Engineer

At CEC Entertainment, we build careers around great food, family, and fun! Our purpose and our passion is to create the best place for kids and families to eat and play!

Job Description

The Principal Engineer is responsible for designing, developing and maintaining business-critical software for CEC Entertainment as part of a distributed Software Engineering team. The role is full stack in the CEC sense: the same engineer builds C# applications that run on our NCR Voyix Aloha point-of-sale terminals in more than 500 stores, design and develop microservices REST API to run our backend in an efficient way. Well versed with Azure cloud and its services.

Major Responsibilities:

• Front end. Develop and maintain web front ends (Angular or React) for internal tools, portals and configuration consoles that support the POS and loyalty platforms.
• Back-end APIs and Azure services. Develop, deploy and operate C# .NET (Core/.NET 8+) Web APIs, Azure Functions and background services in Microsoft Azure using App Service, API Management, Key Vault, Storage, Service Bus/Event Grid, Azure SQL and Application Insights; own infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines for the services you build.
• POS application development. Design, develop and maintain the C# applications that run on Aloha POS terminals (.NET Framework, WinForms)
• Integrations. Build and maintain integrations with third-party platforms and vendors — NCR Voyix, FreedomPay, Affirm, Twilio, SEMNOX, Workday and SaaS partners — and with internal platforms such as OmniFun loyalty and the enterprise data hub.
• Engineering quality. Establish and enforce best practices for secure, scalable, resilient and efficient software: code reviews, unit and integration tests, static analysis, secrets management, structured logging and monitoring, and safe rollout and rollback of store-impacting releases (pilot stores before fleet).
• Production support. Provide tier-3 support for POS and API incidents within the team's protected support capacity, perform root-cause analysis, and drive permanent fixes into the backlog; participate in an on-call rotation as required.
• Collaboration and communication. Work with cross-functional teams to ensure code quality, testing, piloting, installation and implementation are executed efficiently; communicate technical options, risks and trade-offs clearly to both technical and business audiences.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Engineering or similar degree
• 8+ years of professional software development experience, with at least 4 years in C# and the .NET ecosystem spanning both .NET Framework (WinForms/desktop, COM interop)
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs — contracts, authentication (OAuth 2.0 / JWT / API keys), versioning, resilience patterns (retry, circuit breaker, idempotency) and API documentation (OpenAPI).
• 3+ years building and operating solutions on Microsoft Azure: App Service or Azure Functions, API Management, Key Vault, Storage, Azure SQL, messaging (Service Bus/Event Grid), Application Insights, and Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions CI/CD.
• Solid front-end skills with a modern framework (Angular preferred; React), TypeScript, HTML and CSS.
• Working knowledge of SQL Server / Azure SQL data modelling and query performance, and of secure coding practices for environments handling payment card and guest data (PCI DSS awareness; secrets never in code or logs; TLS in transit, encryption at rest).
• Experience in a fast-paced Agile / Scrum, continuous-integration environment using Jira, Confluence and Git-based workflows (GitHub).
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in and help lead high-performing, globally distributed development teams.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, demonstrated continuous technical learning, and the ability to build relationships across the organization with a sharp focus on the customer — both internal and external.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience with NCR Voyix Aloha (Aloha Connect / COM interop, Configuration Center, Aloha Kitchen or ATO), or with another enterprise POS platform's extension model.
• Experience with payment and loyalty integrations (FreedomPay or similar gateways, tokenization, buy-now-pay-later providers, loyalty/CRM platforms).

Physical Demands:

To perform the duties of this position, the incumbent must have the ability to sit, walk, stand, bend, twist, reach, and carry, lift, pull, push between 1 – 25 lbs. Incumbent must use a computer, with the repetitive movement of both hands. Incumbent must be able to work an 8-hour shift, with some overtime. Incumbent must also be available to travel to various locations by airplane or by operating a vehicle if needed.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

                                                            #Diversity #Inclusion #Culture

The Company:

CEC Entertainment, LLC (“CEC”), headquartered in Irving, Texas, is a nationally recognized leader in family dining and entertainment, proudly operating the iconic Chuck E. Cheese, Peter Piper Pizza and Chuck’s Arcade brands.

Chuck E. Cheese celebrates over half a million birthdays annually, dedicated to creating joyful, lasting memories through fun, food, and play. As the place Where a Kid Can Be a Kid®, the brand is committed to safety through programs like Kid Check® and community support, having donated more than $24 million to schools and nonprofits. In 2025, Chuck E. Cheese received the “Best in STEM” award and was named one of America’s Greatest Workplaces, highlighting its industry leadership both in innovation and employee well-being.

Peter Piper Pizza offers a neighborhood pizzeria experience with quality food, engaging entertainment, and lifelong memories because fun isn't added on---“The Fun is Baked In”! Through amusement and connection, families and communities are brought together every day. Both Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza champion play through different attractions to support physical wellness and strengthen motor skills in kids.

CEC Entertainment and its franchisees operate nearly 600 Chuck E. Cheese locations and over 120 Peter Piper Pizza venues across 45 states and 18 countries. The company proudly fosters a culture of diversity and celebrates fun and play to unite every family. Learn more at chuckecheese.com and peterpiperpizza.com.

Benefits:

CEC Entertainment offers a wide variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and 401(k) retirement savings plan to eligible U.S. employees as part of their overall employment package. We also offer job training and career growth opportunities. Chuck E. Cheese is a "Work Today, Get Paid Tomorrow" employer.

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At CEC Entertainment, we believe that our workforce should reflect the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of many guests we serve. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we do not discriminate against applicants due to race, ancestry, color, genetics, gender identify, gender ex-pression, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or on the basis of any other federal, state or local protected class.