[Hiring] Principal Engineer @Lumen Technologies

Role Description

The Principal Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for driving the transformation of Lumen's database organization from a traditional operations-focused model to a modern Platform Engineering and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) operating model. This role focuses on:

• Standardization
• Automation
• Operational excellence
• Reliability
• Toil reduction
• Lifecycle management
• Observability
• Continuous improvement across the existing database estate

The Principal Engineer will lead initiatives that:

• Reduce operational complexity
• Improve service reliability
• Accelerate cloud readiness
• Increase engineering productivity through automation and process optimization

This role is designated as a fully remote position within the United States.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience
• 12+ years of experience in database engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure engineering, site reliability engineering (SRE), cloud engineering, or related technical disciplines
• Proven experience leading large-scale engineering, automation, operational excellence, or transformation initiatives in complex enterprise environments
• Experience driving standardization, process optimization, reliability improvements, and operational efficiency across large-scale technology platforms
• Strong experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), automation, CI/CD, and modern engineering practices
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional technical initiatives and influencing engineering teams
• Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills

Requirements

• Experience transforming traditional DBA or operations organizations into Platform Engineering, DevOps, or SRE operating models
• Experience with enterprise database platforms including Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, or similar technologies
• Experience establishing automation standards, governance frameworks, reusable patterns, and self-service capabilities
• Hands-on experience with Terraform, Ansible, AWX, GitOps, CI/CD pipelines, scripting, and enterprise automation platforms
• Experience analyzing ServiceNow incident, request, and change data to identify service improvement and automation opportunities
• Experience implementing observability, proactive monitoring, reliability engineering, performance optimization, and operational health management practices
• Experience driving database lifecycle management programs including patching, upgrades, platform currency, vulnerability remediation, and technical debt reduction
• Experience leading brownfield standardization and optimization initiatives to simplify legacy environments and accelerate cloud migration readiness
• Experience supporting cloud migration, datacenter exit, modernization, or large-scale infrastructure transformation initiatives
• Familiarity with AWS, Azure, GCP, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud environments
• Experience leveraging AI and intelligent automation to improve operational efficiency, engineering productivity, and service delivery

Benefits

• Comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks
• Support for physical, mental, emotional, and financial wellbeing

Compensation

This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience, and other relevant factors.

• $152,066 - $202,755 in states: AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WI, WV, WY
• $159,670 - $212,893 in states: CO, HI, MI, MN, NC, NH, NV, OR, RI
• $167,273 - $223,031 in states: AK, CA, CT, DC, DE, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, TX, VA, WA