Lead Engineer - Shop Technology

It's fun to work in a company where people truly believe in what they are doing. At Dutch Bros Coffee, we are more than just a coffee company. We are a fun-loving, mind-blowing company that makes a difference one cup at a time. 

Position Overview:
The Lead Engineer – Shop Technology is a hands-on individual contributor responsible for the design, development, integration, reliability, and ongoing support of technology solutions that enable Dutch Bros shop operations. The role will work across the Shop Technology ecosystem, including point-of-sale, payments, labor systems, shop and mobile applications, order ahead, menu and pricing integrations, and other operational platforms. The Lead Engineer will provide hands-on engineering leadership for assigned products, integrations, and initiatives while partnering closely with Product Leads, Operations,

engineering teams, and technology vendors. This is a hands-on engineering role. The Lead Engineer is expected to design and build production quality solutions, develop APIs and integrations, automate operational processes, perform code and design reviews, troubleshoot complex production issues, and guide engineers through implementation and support. The Lead Engineer will help improve the reliability and maintainability of Shop Technology by reducing manual processes, improving integrations, strengthening observability, increasing automated testing, and simplifying recurring operational support.The role will work within Dutch Bros engineering and architecture standards while contributing practical improvements and reusable patterns based on hands-on delivery experience.

Job Qualifications:
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years of software engineering experience, including experience building and supporting enterprise or distributed applications.
• Strong hands-on software development experience using one or more modern programming languages such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar.
• Experience designing, building, and supporting APIs and system integrations.
• Strong understanding of REST APIs, messaging, event-driven integration, databases, and distributed-system fundamentals.
• Experience integrating third-party SaaS platforms with internally developed applications.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, source control, and modern software delivery practices.
• Experience with application observability, including logging, monitoring, metrics, alerting, and troubleshooting.
• Strong understanding of production support, incident troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and operational readiness.
• Demonstrated ability to automate manual or repetitive technology processes.
• Experience applying secure application and integration practices.
• Ability to take technical ownership of features, integrations, and production issues from design through implementation and support.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively with engineering, Product, Operations, Support, and external vendors.
• Experience mentoring or providing technical guidance to other engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting retail, restaurant, hospitality, or other high-volume distributed-location environments.
• Experience with point-of-sale, payments, labor management, digital ordering, mobile applications, or shop/store technology.
• Experience integrating vendor-managed SaaS products with enterprise technology platforms.
• Experience with APIs, event streaming, workflow automation, or integration platforms.
• Experience with distributed shop/store environments where network resiliency, offline operation, and transaction integrity are important.
• Familiarity with PCI, payment security, or other regulated technology environments.
• Experience supporting technology solutions used directly by frontline employees or customers.

Location Requirement: 
This role is located in Tempe, Arizona. This position is required to be in office 4 days per week (Mon-Thurs); Fridays are optional remote work days. Candidates residing in Washington or Oregon are eligible for a fully remote arrangement.

Key Result Areas (KRAs):
Hands-On Engineering & Delivery

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and support production-quality software components, integrations, APIs, and automation.
• Take technical ownership of assigned Shop Technology features and integrations from requirements through production support.
• Translate product and business requirements into practical technical designs and implementation plans.
• Develop proof-of-concepts when needed to validate technical approaches.
• Perform code reviews and provide actionable technical feedback.
• Partner with engineers to resolve implementation challenges and improve solution quality.
• Maintain meaningful hands-on involvement in software development and technical delivery.

Shop Technology Integration

• Build and support integrations across Shop Technology platforms including POS, payments, labor systems, shop applications, order ahead, menu, pricing, and other operational technologies.
• Implement appropriate retry, reconciliation, error handling, recovery, and monitoring patterns.
• Reduce unnecessary point-to-point or manual integrations through reusable APIs, events, workflows, and automation.
• Troubleshoot integration failures across Dutch Bros applications, vendors, APIs, data flows, and infrastructure.
• Identify opportunities to simplify integrations and reduce operational dependencies.

Reliability & Production Engineering

• Monitor and support business-critical Shop Technology applications and integrations.
• Implement appropriate logging, metrics, alerting, and dashboards for owned solutions.
• Participate in production incidents and lead technical troubleshooting for systems within the engineer's area of responsibility.
• Perform root-cause analysis and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Identify recurring production issues and eliminate them through engineering or automation.
• Design solutions that handle network interruptions, retries, downstream failures, and transaction recovery appropriately.
• Partner with Technology Support and Operations to improve supportability and reduce recurring escalations.

Engineering Quality & Software Delivery

• Apply Dutch Bros engineering standards for development, APIs, testing, deployment, documentation, and production support.
• Participate in technical design and architecture reviews.
• Promote automated unit, integration, regression, and end-to-end testing.
• Improve CI/CD and deployment practices for assigned solutions.
• Ensure solutions meet requirements for performance, reliability, maintainability, security, and supportability.
• Contribute reusable components and engineering practices that can be adopted by other Shop Technology engineers.

Automation & Continuous Improvement

• Identify repetitive support activities, manual processes, and fragile operational dependencies.
• Build automation that reduces manual effort and improves consistency.
• Partner with Product and Operations to identify engineering opportunities that improve shop experience and operational efficiency.
• Improve technical documentation and operational runbooks for owned solutions.
• Continuously simplify existing integrations and application support processes.

Vendor & Platform Engineering

• Work directly with technology vendors to troubleshoot integrations, production issues, and technical defects.
• Review vendor APIs, technical documentation, integration behavior, and proposed solutions.
• Validate that vendor solutions meet Dutch Bros technical and operational requirements.
• Coordinate technical testing and implementation activities involving vendor-managed platforms.
• Escalate architectural, reliability, security, or scalability concerns to Staff/Principal Engineers and Engineering leadership when appropriate.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to engineers working on assigned initiatives.
• Mentor engineers through implementation, code reviews, debugging, production troubleshooting, and engineering best practices.
• Help break complex technical work into clear implementation approaches.
• Promote knowledge sharing and cross-training within Shop Technology.
• Lead by example through hands-on engineering, ownership, collaboration, and production accountability.
• Partner with Staff/Principal Engineers and Architects on solutions requiring broader architectural direction.

Skills:

• Software Development
• Application Engineering
• Systems Integration
• API Development
• Distributed Systems
• Event-Driven Integration
• Cloud Engineering
• Automation
• CI/CD & DevOps
• Automated Testing
• Code Reviews
• Technical Design
• Observability & Monitoring
• Production Support
• Incident Troubleshooting
• Root-Cause Analysis
• Reliability Engineering
• Security by Design
• Vendor Integration
• Technical Leadership
• Mentoring
• Problem Solving
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Physical Requirements:

• In-Office Environment: Must be able to work in a busy, crowded, and loud office with frequent distractions and interruptions
• Must be able to collaborate in-person with occasional impromptu in-person meetings 
• Office Conditions: Adaptability to typical office conditions, which may include exposure to air conditioning, heating, artificial lighting, and varying noise levels
• Mobility: Ability to sit, stand, reach, twist, stretch, and work at a desk for long stretches.  Must be able to occasionally move or lift office items up to 25 pounds
• Hearing Requirements: Hearing must be sufficient or correctable to ensure clear understanding of spoken information, including participating in virtual meetings and phone calls. Use of hearing aids or other assistive devices is acceptable if needed.
• Reading and Writing Proficiency: Ability to read and write in English is essential for processing documents, drafting reports, and following up on necessary actions. Proficiency in written communication is required to handle job-related tasks effectively.
• Vision Requirements: Vision must be adequate or correctable to perform essential job duties, such as reading documents on a computer screen and using other visual tools. Use of corrective lenses or other measures to meet visual requirements is expected if needed.
• Technology Proficiency: Must be proficient in operating a computer and other office productivity tools such as printers, scanners, and collaboration software. 
• Effective Communication: Must possess strong verbal and written communication skills to interact effectively with team members, clients, and other stakeholders via email, video conferencing, and other in office communication tools.

Compensation:

DOE

If you like wild growth and working in a unique and fun environment, surrounded by positive community, you'll enjoy your career with us!