Sr Software Development Engineer

The Deployment Technology organization supports Workday's product strategy and roadmap by delivering secure, agentic capabilities that eliminate the historic complexities associated with deploying and continuously optimizing the platform. By using innovative tools like the Configuration Cloud and automated migration intelligence, the team bridges deep software expertise with scalable, customer-controlled technology. The team is fast-paced, collaborative, and customer-focused.

Responsibilities

Partner with cross-functional engineering teams, product management, and platform/infrastructure leadership to define and drive the technical strategy for Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) capabilities within the Deployment Technology organization; Design and build systems that manage the full lifecycle of data (retention, archival, tiering, purge/deletion, backup and restore, and migration), ensuring compliant, efficient, and reliable operation at scale; Proactively identify systemic risks and scalability bottlenecks across data retention pipelines and deployment processes, and design engineering mitigations that span multiple services and release trains; Lead standardization and continuous improvement efforts for data lifecycle tooling and deployment processes across the Deployment Technology organization; Facilitate technical design reviews and architecture discussions with senior engineering and product stakeholders on DLM and deployment systems; Deliver regular technical updates to engineering leadership covering system health, deployment readiness, data compliance milestones, and risk mitigation for DLM initiatives; Shape engineering best practices for data lifecycle and deployment tooling, and mentor engineers across the team

Requirements

8+ years of experience in software development engineering, architecting, building, and scaling robust and efficient software systems, ideally including exposure to data management, storage systems, or deployment/release engineering; Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent practical experience; Strong algorithmic thinking, with expertise in data structures, graph algorithms, and dynamic programming, applied to large-scale data retention, archival, and purge/deletion problems; Experience designing and building scalable, distributed APIs and services that manage data lifecycle states (retention, tiering, archival, deletion) across large multi-tenant systems, applying REST and modern versioning best practices; Hands-on experience with deployment technologies and release engineering, including CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and orchestration/automation tooling; Proficiency in advanced testing methodologies (unit, integration, performance) for data pipelines and deployment systems, with hands-on experience using industry-standard testing frameworks; Solid grasp of Object-Oriented Design principles, including design patterns and SOLID principles; Familiarity with data governance, compliance, and privacy requirements (e.g., retention policies, right-to-be-forgotten/deletion, audit trails) as applied to enterprise data lifecycle systems; Strong proficiency in modern programming languages and development methodologies, including Agile and CI/CD practices; Experience with source control management tools and advanced branching/merging strategies, particularly in the context of coordinated multi-service deployments; Proven ability to collaborate within a software development team and mentor junior engineers on data lifecycle and deployment best practices; Skilled in producing comprehensive technical documentation, including system design and architecture decisions for data lifecycle and deployment systems

Benefits

Workday Bonus Plan or role-specific commission/bonus; annual refresh stock grants awarded by Workday Inc.; Flex Work arrangement combining in-person and remote time; Comprehensive benefits, with more information available on request