engineering
Posted YesterdayPrincipal, Software Engineer (Distributed Systems)
at Workday
Usa Pleasanton, United StatesRemote
Responsibilities
- Design and deliver large-scale, resilient distributed systems that support mission-critical product features with strong performance and reliability guarantees.
- Drive cross-organizational technical strategy to improve the agility, modularity, and operational excellence of our microservices ecosystem.
- Identify, define, and drive solutions for complex, ambiguous product and domain challenges that span multiple services and business units Establish and champion best practices for domain-driven design, distributed systems, strict API contract management, and observability.
- Accelerate product velocity and feature delivery through automation, standardization, and repeatable microservice design patterns.
- Improve end-to-end observability, reliability, and automated recovery for platform services, including proactive detection, self-healing, and robust incident response.
- Advocate for the team by securing alignment on technical debt reduction, architectural modernizations, and the adoption of cutting-edge development tools.
- Champion the integration of AI-assisted engineering tools and modern coding techniques, empowering the team to write higher-quality code faster and safer.
- Lead cloud infrastructure efficiency and cost optimization initiatives, particularly across large-scale AWS & GCP deployments, ensuring architectural decisions balance high performance with financial scalability About You Basic
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong track record of partnering closely with Product Management and cross-functional stakeholders to define, refine, and break down complex technical and product requirements.
Requirements
- We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most.
- About the Team The Workday Developer Platform empowers our customers to expand the business capabilities of Workday by building on our existing technologies with AI capabilities.
- We work on scalable microservices and distributed systems, leveraging AI-driven development tools and modern coding practices.
- This role requires deep expertise in distributed systems and microservices architecture, combined with the ability to translate business
- Qualifications: Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. 12+ years of software engineering experience, with a proven track record of designing, building, and maintaining large-scale distributed systems and production-grade microservice architectures. 12+ years of hands-on
- experience with object-oriented or functional programming languages, specifically Java or Scala. Solid
- experience with containerization and orchestration technologies, specifically Docker and Kubernetes. Other
- Qualifications: Hands-on AI Integration: Proven ability to integrate AI capabilities directly into scalable software solutions while adhering to Responsible AI practices.
- Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or similar), including the ability to direct, review, and validate AI-generated code.
- Polyglot & Expert Programming: Expert-level programming proficiency in Java, Scala, and/or Go, with a deep understanding of advanced design patterns and clean code practices.
- experience with modern CI/CD pipelines, advanced IDE integrations, and a strong advocacy for robust, automated end-to-end (E2E) testing strategies. Cloud Efficiency & Optimization: Demonstrated
- experience managing and scaling cloud footprints across AWS and GCP, with the ability to implement cost-aware architectural patterns and optimize tenant-based infrastructure.
- Deep understanding of modern architectural standards, including Model Context Protocol (MCP), to champion and implement a spec-driven development approach.
- Strategic Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to articulate complex technical concepts and influence both technical and non-technical business partners.
- Experience with frontend frameworks (e.g., React/TypeScript) to support seamless, full-stack feature delivery is a plus.
Experience
- experience delivering and scaling large distributed production services to a global enterprise customer base. 5+ years of
Benefits
- In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul.
- About the Role As a Principal Software Engineer, you will partner with engineering and product leadership to shape the platform’s long-term architecture, vision, and strategic investments.
- Workday Pay Transparency Statement The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below.
- Workday pay ranges vary based on work location.
- As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants.
- Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things.
- Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton Primary Location Base Pay Range: $222,900 USD - $334,300 USD Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $187,100 USD - $334,300 USD Our Approach to Flexible Work With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote.
Additional details
- Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other.
- Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm.
- We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care.
- We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive.
- Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back.
- So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.
- The mission of the Core Platform Service team is to establish the foundation for Workday Dev Platform providing best in class services such as Event Messaging Platform, Identity Management and Tenant Lifecycle Management.
- The team builds critical backend infrastructure services for the Workday Dev Platform.
- Leveraging the latest open-source technologies, our team owns the core security components and inter-service control that power the platform..
- Our mission is to solve complex technical challenges, accelerating product velocity while ensuring our core services remain resilient and secure.