Principal Engineer (Warehouse Engineering)

THE ROLE

Principal Engineer (Warehouse Engineering)

We're looking for a Principal Engineer - Warehouse Engineering to lead the technical vision and architecture of Quince's warehousing platform. In this role, you will build the systems that power inventory movement, fulfillment execution, warehouse operations, and returns management across a rapidly growing supply chain network.

You will drive the architecture of Quince's warehouse integration platform, proprietary Warehouse Management System (WMS), and end-to-end returns ecosystem. This role requires deep expertise in distributed systems, operational platforms, and warehouse technology, combined with the ability to influence engineering strategy across multiple supply chain domains.

Success in this role means building scalable, resilient, and highly observable warehouse systems that maintain inventory accuracy, operational efficiency, and customer experience at scale. You will act as a technical leader across the organization, driving architectural decisions, mentoring engineers, and shaping the future of warehouse technology at Quince.

Responsibilities

Warehouse Integration Platform

• Design and build a standardized warehouse integration layer that enables seamless connectivity with third-party warehouse operators and WMS platforms.
• Define integration contracts, APIs, and operational standards that eliminate bespoke engineering efforts for onboarding new warehouse partners.
• Establish monitoring, observability, and reconciliation mechanisms to detect integration failures and inventory inconsistencies before they impact downstream systems.
• Drive platform-level solutions that simplify warehouse onboarding and improve operational scalability.

Warehouse Management System (WMS)

• Architect and build Quince's proprietary Warehouse Management System to support inbound, outbound, inventory, and fulfillment workflows.
• Design the platform to support both Quince-operated facilities and third-party warehouse operators from day one.
• Define the technical strategy for multi-tenant architecture, including data isolation, configuration management, access controls, and platform extensibility.
• Establish scalable architecture patterns that enable external adoption of the platform as a service.

Returns Platform & Reverse Logistics

• Own the architecture and evolution of the end-to-end returns platform.
• Design systems supporting customer return intake, inventory replenishment, restocking, refurbishment, and disposition workflows.
• Build operational tooling that provides visibility, control, and throughput optimization across reverse logistics operations.
• Ensure returns workflows maintain the same level of reliability, observability, and operational excellence as forward fulfillment systems.

AI-Native Platform Innovation

• Drive adoption of AI-first engineering practices across warehouse engineering teams.
• Architect AI-powered capabilities such as exception management, operational automation, intelligent workflow routing, and warehouse analytics.
• Partner with data science teams to build infrastructure that enables reliable deployment of AI and optimization models into production systems.
• Establish standards for integrating AI capabilities while maintaining operational reliability and system correctness.

Technical Leadership & Organizational Impact

• Define the long-term technical vision and architecture roadmap for warehouse engineering systems.
• Lead architecture reviews and guide critical technical decisions across warehouse, logistics, supply chain, and platform teams.
• Establish engineering standards for scalability, reliability, observability, and operational excellence.
• Mentor senior engineers and provide technical leadership across a globally distributed organization.
• Partner closely with warehouse operations, logistics leadership, and business stakeholders to translate operational challenges into scalable technical solutions.
• Contribute to hiring and development of world-class engineering talent.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience building large-scale operational, supply chain, or warehouse management systems.
• Proven experience designing and scaling distributed systems and event-driven architectures in production environments.
• Deep expertise in building highly reliable systems where data integrity and operational correctness are critical.
• Experience designing integration platforms and replacing bespoke system integrations with standardized, scalable frameworks.
• Strong understanding of multi-tenant platform architecture, data isolation strategies, API design, and external platform consumption models.
• Experience leading architecture and technical strategy across multiple teams and business domains.
• Strong understanding of inventory management, fulfillment workflows, and operational system design principles.
• Experience building systems that balance scalability, performance, reliability, and operational complexity.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence both technical and business leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor senior engineers and drive engineering excellence across organizations.
• Experience leveraging AI-enabled development workflows and integrating AI capabilities into operational platforms.

Preferred:

• Direct experience building or architecting Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) at scale.
• Experience with commercial WMS platforms and a strong perspective on custom-built versus vendor-based solutions.
• Familiarity with reverse logistics, inventory condition management, refurbishment, and disposition workflows.
• Experience in e-commerce fulfillment, 3PL operations, or large-scale warehouse networks.
• Deep expertise in inventory accuracy, warehouse automation, and fulfillment optimization systems.
• Experience building multi-tenant SaaS platforms serving external customers or operators.
• Background in high-growth consumer, retail, logistics, or supply chain technology organizations.
• Experience partnering with data science and optimization teams to operationalize planning and decision-making models at scale.

What Success looks like:

• A scalable warehouse platform that supports rapid onboarding of new warehouse partners without bespoke engineering effort.
• A robust, multi-tenant WMS capable of powering both Quince-operated and third-party facilities.
• High levels of inventory accuracy, operational reliability, and observability across warehouse operations.
• Efficient and scalable returns workflows with strong visibility into reverse logistics performance.
• Successful adoption of AI-driven capabilities that improve operational efficiency and decision-making.
• A strong engineering culture with high technical standards, operational excellence, and scalable platform architecture principles embedded across teams.