Principal Platform Engineer in Kansas City, Missouri at Drug Free Sport LLC

The Principal Platform Engineer will serve as a hands-on technical leader responsible for designing, building, and evolving Drug Free Sport International’s next-generation global integrity platform. This role is ideal for a senior engineer and platform architect who thrives at the intersection of system architecture, full-stack engineering, data strategy, and technical leadership. You will play a critical role in modernizing and connecting multiple systems into a unified, scalable platform that supports mission-critical, high-trust, and globally impactful work.

As a Principal-level individual contributor, you will define technical architecture, establish engineering standards, guide integration strategy, and actively write production code. You will partner closely with Product, IT, Operations, and external development teams to shape both the technical foundation and long-term platform vision of the organization. This is not a purely advisory or management role. The Principal Platform Engineer is a builder, architect, and technical leader who enjoys solving complex engineering problems while remaining hands-on in development and delivery.

We are building a next-generation Global Integrity Platform designed to modernize and unify critical operational systems across the organization. This is a rare opportunity to shape the architecture, engineering practices, and platform strategy of a growing global organization while remaining deeply hands-on in building the future platform itself.

What You Will Do:

Architecture & Platform Design

• Define and own the end-to-end architecture for a multi-system, evolving platform ecosystem.
• Lead architecture decisions across backend systems, integrations, infrastructure, and data platforms.
• Design core data models and integration patterns shared across systems and business domains.
• Establish API-first architecture, service boundaries, and interoperability standards.
• Lead foundational data architecture, including data modeling, warehouse strategy, and operational reporting enablement.
• Design for scalability, multi-tenancy, security, compliance, and long-term extensibility from the start.
• Drive technical decision-making through architecture documentation, standards, and collaborative reviews.

Full-Stack Engineering (Hands-On)

• Write and deliver production-grade software across backend services, APIs, integrations, and frontend applications.
• Build and evolve platform capabilities used across multiple teams and operational domains.
• Develop data pipelines and integration layers that connect existing and future systems.
• Contribute to UX/UI decisions to ensure intuitive and scalable user experiences.
• Improve platform reliability, maintainability, observability, and performance.
• Own the integration surface across operational tools and help normalize workflows and data structures across legacy systems.
• Establish engineering standards, best practices, and development patterns .

Technical Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as a senior technical authority across multiple systems and initiatives.
• Partner with Product, IT, Operations, and business stakeholders to align technical solutions with organizational goals.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable guidance for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, frameworks, and AI-assisted development capabilities.
• Collaborate with external vendors and development partners, including reviewing deliverables and defining technical acceptance criteria.

What We Are Looking For:

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, including significant experience in platform or full-stack engineering.
• Proven ability to design and build enterprise-scale platforms and distributed systems.
• Strong experience with system architecture, APIs, integration strategy, and scalable backend services.
• Deep understanding of data architecture, data modeling, and data pipeline design.
• Hands-on experience building production systems in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and modern engineering practices.
• Strong coding ability in modern backend technologies such as Node.js, Python, Go, or similar.
• Experience with modern frontend frameworks such as React or similar.
• Strong database fundamentals across relational and NoSQL systems.
• Experience integrating complex systems across multiple teams or business domains.
• Ability to operate independently and lead through influence in ambiguous, high-impact environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with both technical and business stakeholders.

Nice To Have Experience:

• Modernizing legacy enterprise systems while maintaining operational continuity.
• Building secure, multi-tenant platforms with role-based access controls, audit logging, and strong governance practices.
• In regulated, compliance-heavy, or high-trust industries such as healthcare, laboratory operations, legal, fintech, logistics, or government.
• Designing workflow-heavy systems such as case management, scheduling, certifications, training, quality management, or operational logistics.
• AI/ML integrations, including LLM APIs, vector search, or AI-assisted workflows.
• Cloud-based analytics, reporting enablement, or enterprise data platforms.
• Partnering with third-party development vendors and reviewing technical implementation quality.

Role Level & Expectations:

This is a Principal-level Individual Contributor role, specifically:

• You will not initially have direct reports.
• You will lead through technical expertise, architecture, and influence.
• You will operate as a technical authority across multiple systems and initiatives.
• You will remain actively involved in coding, design, and technical delivery.
• As platform organizations evolve, this role may expand into platform technical leadership or engineering management opportunities.