Principal Technical Architect

Work Location Type : Hybrid

About Grainger :

W.W. Grainger, Inc., is a leading broad line distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the United Kingdom. At Grainger, We Keep the World Working® by serving more than 4.5 million customers worldwide with products and solutions delivered through innovative technology and deep customer relationships. Known for its commitment to service and award-winning culture, the Company had 2024 revenue of $17.2 billion across its two business models. In the High-Touch Solutions segment, Grainger offers approximately 2 million maintenances, repair and operating (MRO) products and services, including technical support and inventory management. In the Endless Assortment segment, Zoro.com offers customers access to more than 14 million products, and MonotaRO.com offers more than 24 million products. For more information, visit www.grainger.com.

Compensation :

The anticipated base pay compensation range for this position is $160,300.00 to $267,100.00.This role is eligible for an incentive plan.

Rewards and Benefits :

With benefits starting on day one, our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet team members' individual needs, including :

Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment and 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.

18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date) and 6 company holidays per year.

6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.

Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.

Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.

For additional information and details regarding Grainger’s benefits, please click on the link below :

The pay range provided above is not a guarantee of compensation. The range reflects the potential base pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual base pay compensation will depend, in part, on factors such as geographic work location and relevant experience and skills.

The anticipated compensation range described above is subject to change and the compensation ultimately paid may be higher or lower than the range described above.

Grainger reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion at any time, consistent with applicable law.

Position Details :

We’re looking for a Principal Software Architect who can lead the design of modular business capabilities within a complex enterprise ecosystem.

Our ideal candidate is fluent in product thinking, platform architecture, and understands how to build systems (th)at scale.

You will report to to the Director of Architecture, Product Information Management and Product Discovery, and works closely with leaders across Product and Engineering. This role is based out of our Chicago Office and is hybrid. Remote candidates who are willing to travel will be considered.

You Will :

Architect and evolve core capabilities that power Product Information Management and Product Discovery.

Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and designers to define, prototype, and iterate on services that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Design services that are flexible, discoverable, and interoperable across the enterprise.

Provide architectural guidance on data modeling, API design, service boundaries, and internal platform strategy.

Influence engineering practices across the organization — driving clarity in trade-offs, enabling reuse, and mentoring senior engineers.

Ensure architectural interoperability with other Domains such as supply chain, customer experience, and merchandising — recognizing that your systems exist as part of an ecosystem, not a silo.

You Have :

Be able to function effectively in a product-centric engineering culture (as opposed to project-driven delivery)

Proven ability to design and scale modular software capabilities that serve multiple teams or channels

Strong understanding of modern enterprise architecture patterns, especially domain-driven design, microservices, event-based systems, and capability modeling

Strong collaborator, able to bridge product, data, and engineering.

Communicate effectively with everybody from the most senior leader to the most junior engineer.

12+ years in software, with 3+ in a staff-plus or architectural leadership role

How We Work

We value evolutionary architecture — small bets, clear metrics, and a bias for measurable learning

We view architecture as a product in itself — one that enables every team to move faster, safer, and more independently

We balance team autonomy with enterprise coherence, ensuring capabilities work as part of a broader ecosystem.

We think about the long-term and wide-boundary impacts of our decisions.

We drive intentionality around decisions, clearly articulating trade-offs to those accountable for them.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.