Principal Engineer - Strategic Technology Planning

About this role:

       Wells Fargo is seeking a technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) to serve as the strategic liaison between the CIS Strategic Technology Planning (STP) team and CIS Engineering leadership. The position is responsible for shaping, owning, and driving the CIS Technical Strategy while enabling effective cross‑CIS technical problem solving. By closely partnering with engineering, delivery oversight, and executive leadership, this role ensures technical direction is aligned with enterprise commitments, operational realities, and long-term platform evolution.

In this role, you will:

• Build, own, and continuously evolve the CIS Technical Strategy, defining core functions, technical products, roadmaps, and milestones across all CIS Engineering teams.
• Act as the primary technical liaison between CIS STP and CIS Engineering leaders, driving alignment and resolution of cross‑organizational technical challenges.
• Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex and unique challenges requiring in-depth evaluation across multiple areas or the enterprise, delivering solutions that are long-term, large-scale and require vision, creativity, innovation, advanced analytical and inductive thinking
• Translate advanced technology experience, an in-depth knowledge of the organizations tactical and strategic business objectives, the enterprise technological environment, the organization structure, and strategic technological opportunities and requirements into technical engineering solutions
• Partner closely with the DCMS CIS Delivery Oversight team to establish a strong interlock between DCMS delivery commitments and the CIS Technical Strategy.
• Provide strategic and tactical technical guidance to support ongoing and ad‑hoc operational initiatives for the Strategic Technology Planning (STP) executive leader and their directs.
• Influence and guide automation strategies that reduce manual effort, accelerate delivery timelines, and improve overall customer experience.
• Build credibility and confidence with executive and director‑level stakeholders by delivering clear, actionable, and well‑reasoned technical direction.
• Maintain knowledge of industry best practices and new technologies and recommends innovations that enhance operations or provide a competitive advantage to the organization
• Strategically engage and collaborate with CIS directors and executives, and provide virtual presentations and consultative support as requested
• Communicate technical concepts briefly, clearly, and precisely in business‑relevant terms for executive and non‑technical audiences.
• Demonstrate consistent delivery excellence, even within short turnaround timelines.
• Exhibit strong executive presence and the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Build trust, rapport, and collaborative relationships across engineering, delivery, and leadership teams.
• Operate with a proactive, solutions‑oriented mindset in both strategic and operational contexts.
• In‑office collaboration with Core Infrastructure Services (CIS) directors and executive leadership.
• Virtual presentations and consultative engagement as requested by the STP executive leader or their directs.
• Regular interaction with senior stakeholders to provide visibility into execution progress, risks, and value realization.
• Take full accountability – own the outcome, not just the task.  Take the extra step to identify obstacles, manage risks, escalate issues, make connections, and bridge gaps.

Required Skills:

• 7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
• 7+ years technical experience with data center infrastructure and cloud platforms.
• 7+ years experience designing and operating distributed server architectures.
• 5+ years experience translating complex technical architectures into strategic, enterprise‑level roadmaps.
• 3+ years hands-on experience with Kubernetes container platforms.
• 3+ years experience in infrastructure automation and self‑service provisioning.

Desired Skills:

• Experience operating in a large‑scale enterprise or shared services environment, especially in financial services industry.
• Background in strategic technology planning, platform strategy, or architecture leadership.
• Familiarity with executive‑level governance, delivery oversight, and cross‑portfolio alignment.
• Experience with governance, risk, and compliance in a highly-regulated industry.
• Experience driving automation initiatives that deliver measurable operational and customer value.
• Familiarity with data science and analytics applications in