Principal Software Engineer

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed. 

This is a hybrid role based out of Palo Alto, CA. Hybrid is 3 days a week onsite, 2 days a week remote.

SAP Business Network is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as a senior technical leader for the identity, authentication, and authorization engineering domain. 
In this role, you will own the concept, design, and delivery of complex product features within SAP Business Network across the identity and access management domain, setting the technical direction for the team and ensuring that engineering outcomes meet both SAP's quality standards and the exacting demands of mission-critical customers. You will be recognized as a subject matter expert in enterprise identity and access management (IAM) and application security, providing definitive technical guidance and driving innovation across the program. 

SAP Business Network connects buyers and suppliers globally, enabling seamless procurement, invoicing, and supply chain collaboration at enterprise scale. Requiring deep technical expertise, rigorous security compliance, and the ability to deliver reliable software in a regulated envrionments.

Responsibilities for this position 

• As a Principal Engineer, you will work at the intersection of product innovation and mission-critical reliability. 

• Own the technical design and end-to-end delivery of high-complexity features across SAP Business Network’s identity and access management domain – authentication, single sign-on, identity federation, authorization, session and user lifecycle management - ensuring alignment with SAP Business Network platform standards and government security requirements  

• Mentor and upskill developers on the team, establishing a culture of engineering excellence aligned with SAP's agile software engineering practices 

• Design and evolve identity and access management capabilities – enterprise SSO, identity federation, and standards-based flows (SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect) and their integration with SAP Identity Authentication Service (IAS) and SAP Authorization Management Service (AMS). 

• Act as the primary technical escalation point for the engineering team; provide definitive interpretation of complex technical situations 

• Provide regular project status, milestone tracking, and technical updates to program leadership and key decision-makers 

• Champion continuous improvement of development methods, tooling, and quality assurance practices within the Business Network engineering organization 
• Manages projects of high volume or high risk/complexity, providing regular project status and updates to stakeholders 
• Builds strategic partnerships with key decision makers in customer and partner organizations 

What you bring: 

• U.S. Citizenship: Must be a U.S. Citizen due to the requirements associated with supporting U.S. public sector customers and government environments. 
• 10+ years of professional software development experience with a proven track record of leading complex, enterprise-scale product delivery. 

• Expert-level proficiency in Java (and OOD/SQL) in a cloud-native production environment; additional languages (JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, or equivalent languages) are a plus. 

• Deep, hands-on expertise in authentication, authorization and security, including enterprise SSO and identity federation, and standards such as SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect. 

• Deep knowledge of distributed systems architecture, microservices design, RESTful APIs, built on a modern Java cloud-native stack (Spring Boot, Kafka, Kubernetes), and cloud platforms such as SAP BTP, AWS, Azure, or GCP. 

• Strong command of secure engineering practices: token/session management, secrets handling, vulnerability management, and threat modeling for identity systems. 

• Demonstrated ability to lead technical design, drive code reviews, define deliverables, and ensure milestones are met within approved scope. 

• Established track record as a recognized subject matter expert — internally and/or externally — in software engineering, identity or enterprise security. 

• Proven ability to mentor senior and junior engineers. 

• Strong communication skills: able to formulate clear technical plans, communicate with constructive feedback, and represent SAP credibly to customers and partners 

• Comfortable with both deep technical contribution and cross-functional stakeholder management 

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline (or equivalent practical experience) 

Meet your team 

You will join SAP Business Network's engineering organization in Palo Alto, contributing as a senior technical leader on the US Navy Business Network (PPS) program under hiring manager Joern Keller. The team is composed of experienced engineers passionate about building enterprise-grade procurement technology that operates at government scale. You will collaborate closely with product management, solution architects, security and compliance specialists, and directly with US Navy customer stakeholders. Making a tangible impact on how global procurement operates for one of the world's most complex organizations. 

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 198200-420000USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

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Requisition ID: 456985  | Work Area: Software-Design and Development  | Expected Travel: 0 - 10%  | Career Status: Professional  | Employment Type: Regular Full Time   | Additional Locations:  #LI-Hybrid