Staff Engineer - MarTech

Title: Staff Engineer

Reports To: Sr. Manager - Engineering

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

American Eagle is a youth culture brand grounded in denim. Our purpose extends beyond making the best jeans-we embrace self expression, culture, optimism and connection. Through the brand platform Live Your Life, we empower our community to be who they want to be all while wearing the clothes that make them most confident.

Get to Know the Role:

We are seeking a highly skilled and hands-on Staff Engineer to join our dynamic Marketing Technology (MarTech) team. In this critical Individual Contributor (IC) leadership role, you will be instrumental in designing, developing, and scaling our core eCommerce MarTech platform. Leveraging deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, and event-driven microservices, you will build robust, high-availability solutions that drive customer engagement.

As a Staff Engineer, you will act as a force multiplier for the engineering organization-setting the technical vision, architecting complex distributed systems, and providing elite mentorship to the development team. This role requires a strong technical foundation, proven cross-functional leadership capabilities, and a passion for building innovative, revenue-driving MarTech solutions.

What You’ll Do:

• Architecture & Technical Leadership: Serve as the technical anchor for the MarTech team, architecting and delivering distributed, cloud-based microservices, event-driven architectures, and RESTful APIs using Java and Spring Boot.
• Design & Roadmap: Lead the technical design process, write highly effective narrative design documents (RFCs/Architecture Decision Records), and translate complex business needs into clear technical roadmaps with accurate estimations and mitigation plans.
• Engineering Excellence: Drive automated CI/CD practices and deployment pipelines (e.g., Bamboo, GitHub Actions, Bitbucket) for zero-downtime releases.
• Operations & Observability: Design for observability (Grafana, New Relic), act as the escalation point in a 24/7 environment, and lead detailed Root Cause Analysis (RCAs) and Correction of Errors (COEs).
• Vision & Mentorship: Define the technical strategic vision, align software delivery with eCommerce goals, and elevate the engineering team through direct mentorship, technical coaching, and pair programming.

What You Bring:

• Domain Expertise: Extensive architectural experience working specifically within eCommerce domains and Marketing Technologies (MarTech).
• AI/ML Readiness: Demonstrated proficiency, hands-on experience, or formal certification in AI/ML implementations and generative AI toolsets.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience: Minimum of 10 years of software engineering experience, with a heavy emphasis on Java development and substantial experience leading complex, multi-quarter engineering projects.
• Technical Leadership: Proven track record operating at a Senior, Lead, or Staff level, driving technical strategy without requiring formal direct-line management authority.
• Systems Design: Deep expertise architecting large-scale, highly available distributed systems and cloud architectures (advanced system design demonstration required during the interview process).
• Database & Cloud: Strong hands-on proficiency with relational and transactional databases (PostgreSQL, CloudSQL) and Google Cloud Platform services (e.g., Pub/Sub, Cloud SQL).
• Soft Skills: Exceptional communication, presentation, and cross-functional networking skills, capable of distilling complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented eCommerce environment with competing priorities.

Perks: Why You’ll Love it Here

• Generous Associate Discount: Treat yourself to the best our brands offer!
• Summer Fridays (For Pittsburgh, NYC and Remote Corporate Associates): More time for the sun and the weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Casual Dress Code: Come as you are (and stay comfy).
• Hybrid Schedule: Enjoy a blend of home-office focus and in-office collaboration.
• In-Person Connection: While we love our digital tools, we love our people even more! To keep our culture thriving, in-person presence is required at one of our Pittsburgh or NYC headquarters, distribution centers or field locations for interviews, orientation and periodic quarterly meetups.
• In-Office Events: Exciting company-wide events you won’t want to miss!

Pay/Benefits Information:

• Actual starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to relevant experience and location.
• Subject to eligibility requirements, associates may receive health care benefits (including medical, vision, and dental); wellness benefits; 401(k) retirement benefits; life and disability insurance; employee stock purchase program; paid time off; paid sick leave; and parental leave and benefits.
• Paid Time Off, paid sick leave, and holiday pay vary by job level and type, job location, employment classification (part-time or full-time / exempt or non-exempt), and years of service. For additional information, please click HERE.
• AEO may also provide discretionary bonuses and other incentives at its discretion.