We are seeking a Staff Engineer to join our Digital Engineering team and drive the technical direction of our global, multi-brand digital ecosystem. This role is focused on headless backend engineering, with deep expertise in e-commerceplatforms, event-drivenarchitectures, Azure cloud-native solutions, and generative AI integrations.
As a Staff Engineer, you will shape how we design, scale, and operate domain-driven, event-based platforms built on Java (Spring Boot) and Node.js microservices. You will set the technical standard across Kubernetes (AKS), Istio, KEDA, multi-region deployments, and automation-first practices. Your leadership will ensure our services are secure, resilient, performant, and seamlessly integrated with external systems.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Architecture & Systems Design
Architect and evolve Java and Node.js-based event-driven microservices on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), ensuring scalability, resiliency, and observability.
Design and implement integration patterns (synchronous APIs, async messaging, event streams, pub/sub) across internal and external systems.
Abstract external system interfaces (POS, payments, loyalty, fulfillment, etc.) from our domain services to ensure maintainability and vendor flexibility.
Apply GenAI capabilities (LLMs, embeddings, prompt orchestration) to backend services, including customer personalization, search, knowledge retrieval, and operations automation.
Champion automation-first practices: infrastructure as code (Terraform/Bicep), automated testing, performance validation, and observability.
Collaboration & Influence
Partner with architects, engineering managers, and product leaders to align on technical direction, roadmap, and release strategies.
Mentor engineers in DDD, integration patterns, Kubernetes, Istio, KEDA, automation best practices, and microservice design in Java and Node.js.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS
- 4 Year Degree and/or Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related fields 10 plus years in backend software engineering
- 3 plus years in a Staff/Principal/Lead Engineer role
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
Deep expertise in Azure Cloud Services: AKS, Event Hubs, Service Bus, Cosmos DB, App Gateway, Front Door, and related services.
Applied experience with Generative AI services (Azure OpenAI, OpenAI APIs, or similar) — designing secure, scalable backend integrations with LLMs.
Integration patterns and DDD are institutionalized, enabling clean, scalable, and maintainable systems.
You are recognized as the technical authority for backend architecture, Azure, Kubernetes, and integration-driven design.
Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.
We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.
