Distinguished Engineer - Data, Knowledge, & AI Platforms - ITC

This role is a Distinguished Engineer for enterprise data and AI platforms at Nike. The individual will collaborate with senior leaders across Data, AI, Knowledge, Platform Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Security, and Architecture, and provide technical leadership to a community of principal engineers and architects. They will shape the technical direction of Nike's enterprise data, analytics, and AI platforms, driving architecture, modernization, and innovation at global scale.

• Define and advance the long-term technical strategy for enterprise data and AI platforms, focusing on scalability, resilience, security, and cost efficiency.
• Lead platform architecture and modernization across cloud-native data, analytics, and AI capabilities that support global engineering and business teams.
• Build platform components that enable Semantic layer, Ontology, Taxonomy, and Knowledge graphs.
• Establish standards and reference patterns for platform design, governance, observability, automation, and high-quality data operations.
• Partner with product, platform, infrastructure, and security leaders to align roadmaps and enable self-service experiences at scale.
• Champion innovation in AI, GenAI, automation, and real-time data capabilities to unlock new platform and developer value.
• Influence senior stakeholders and mentor engineering leaders to raise the bar on technical excellence, platform outcomes, and organizational capability.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field, or any suitable combination of education, experience, and training.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience as an individual contributor.
• Proven track record as a Distinguished Engineer or equivalent role in a technology-driven organisation.
• Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and distributed computing.
• Strong understanding of enterprise data privacy, governance, and access controls, with the ability to design and enforce safeguards that protect sensitive data.
• Deep knowledge of Semantic layer, Ontology, Taxonomy, and Knowledge graphs.
• Deep understanding of system performance tradeoffs and engineering for high availability.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML technologies and their application to data-driven solutions.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to influence and inspire teams.
• Proven ability to drive innovation and solve complex technical challenges.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Active involvement in the open-source community and a history of contributing to relevant projects and/or experience in publishing technical articles.
• Seasoned technical leader with deep expertise in enterprise data and analytics platforms.
• Fluency in cloud-based platforms, distributed systems, and modern data components, including batch and streaming pipelines, orchestration, storage, metadata, and observability.
• Ability to design platforms that support the full data lifecycle—from ingestion and transformation to governance and self-service access.