Principal Software Engineer- Supply Chain, Warehouse Execution Systems (Remote)

The Home Depot

164d • $160,000 - $240,000

About The Position

The Principal Software Engineer will lead the design, development, and integration of advanced warehouse automation and execution systems critical to our supply chain operations. Leveraging substantial experience in conveyor design software, PLC communication, and robotics, they will architect robust solutions connecting hardware—including sensors, actuators, and industrial robots—with cutting-edge cloud-native platforms and enterprise-grade warehouse management software. This role requires navigating the limitations and complexities of industrial protocols and orchestrating seamless interoperability between edge devices and cloud services. As a technical expert and collaborative leader, the Principal Software Engineer will produce scalable, reusable code and maintain high technical standards across the product lifecycle. They will facilitate cross-disciplinary teamwork with software, electrical, and mechanical teams, translating intricate technical requirements for both technical and non-technical stakeholders, and documenting system risks, integration constraints, and operational objectives. This position also oversees system configuration, performance optimization, resilience testing, and production monitoring, upholding rigorous expectations for system availability, security, and disaster recovery. Through mentorship and active engagement, the Principal Software Engineer will foster skill development among junior team members and drive adoption of best practices in microservices, modern development frameworks, and continuous integration/deployment toolchains to ensure the reliability and scalability of our automated warehouse solutions.

Requirements

• Must be eighteen years of age or older
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States
• Mastery of an object-oriented programming language (preferably Java)

Nice To Haves

• 6-8 years of hands-on experience designing and developing large-scale, distributed warehouse automation and execution systems
• Proven expertise with conveyor design software, including a deep understanding of control logic, systems integration, and real-time material handling requirements
• Strong proficiency in PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) communication, including knowledge of industrial protocols (such as Modbus, OPC UA, Ethernet/IP) and practical limitations of PLC hardware and software in automated environments
• Hands-on experience with robotics and electronic control systems, including architecting solutions involving sensors, actuators, industrial robots, and vision systems within warehouse environments
• Advanced skills in software architecture and designing enterprise-grade supply chain or warehouse management solutions
• Advanced proficiency in Java and cloud-native development, particularly on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or similar scalable cloud infrastructures
• Deep understanding of integration patterns between cloud services and edge devices (such as PLCs, conveyors, robots)
• Mastery of a modern web application framework such as Ruby on Rails, Spring MVC, or Node.js
• Strong skills in both relational (SQL) and NoSQL databases for modeling warehouse operational and transactional data
• Solid experience with version control systems (preferably Git)
• Proficient in designing scalable RESTful APIs and microservice architectures for high-throughput warehouse environments
• Experience with front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AngularJS, ReactJS, and JQuery for user interfaces tied to warehouse control and monitoring systems
• Proficient in Linux/Unix environments supporting CI/CD toolchains for rapid, reliable warehouse software deployment
• Familiarity with destructive testing methodologies, performance testing, and building resilient systems for critical supply chain operations
• Knowledge of defensive coding practices for high-availability, security, and disaster recovery in mission-critical warehouse applications
• Expertise in test-driven development, efficient unit test creation, and automation for control logic and warehouse orchestration software
• Experience applying the 12-factor methodology and demonstrating its benefits to cross-functional and junior team members
• Proven ability to effectively communicate complex technical requirements, especially integrating software with hardware (PLCs, conveyor controllers, robotics), to both engineering teams and non-technical stakeholders
• Demonstrated leadership in architecting software systems for automated warehouses, including clear documentation and communication of system limitations, integration risks, and platform constraints
• Collaborative approach to resolving cross-disciplinary challenges among software, electrical, and mechanical teams

Responsibilities

• Collaborates and pairs with other product team members (UX, engineering, and product management) to create secure, reliable, scalable software solutions
• Documents, reviews, and ensures that all quality and change control standards are met
• Writes custom code or scripts to automate infrastructure, monitoring services, and test cases
• Writes custom code or scripts to do 'destructive testing' to ensure adequate resiliency in production
• Creates meaningful dashboards, logging, alerting, and responses to ensure that issues are captured and addressed proactively
• Contributes to enterprise-wide tools to drive destructive testing, automation, or engineering empowerment
• Identifies product enhancements (client-facing or technical) to create a better experience for the end users
• Identifies unsecured code areas and implements fixes as they are discovered with or without tooling
• Identifies, implements, and shares technical solutions that can be used across the organization
• Creates and architects foundational code elements that can be reused many times by a product
• Creates meaningful architecture diagrams and other documentation needed for security reviews or other interested parties
• Defines Service Level Objectives for the product to constantly measure their reliability in production and help prioritize backlog work
• Field questions from other product teams or support teams
• Monitors tools and participates in conversations to encourage collaboration across product teams
• Provides application support for software running in production
• Proactively monitors production Service Level Objectives for products
• Works with vendors and the open-source community to help identify and implement feature enhancements in software products
• Works with other product teams to create API specifications and contracts for shared data
• Proactively reviews the performance and capacity of all aspects of production: code, infrastructure, data, and message processing
• Triages high-priority issues and outages as they arise
• Participates in and leads learning activities around modern software design and development core practices (communities of practice)
• Learns, through reading, tutorials, and videos, new technologies and best practices being used within other technology organizations
• Attends conferences and learns how to apply new technologies where appropriate

Benefits

• health care benefits
• 401K
• ESPP
• paid time off
• success sharing bonus

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees