Principal Software Engineer, Workday

Distributed Systems

$176-264k

This role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants

Python

Scala

Java

Linux

Golang

Expert level

San Francisco Bay Area

More information about location

Office located in Pleasanton, CA

Enterprise AI platform for managing HR and finance

Job no longer available

Enterprise AI platform for managing HR and finance

1001+ employees

B2BHRInternal toolsAnalyticsFinancial ServicesCloud Computing

Job no longer available

$176-264k

This role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants

Python

Scala

Java

Linux

Golang

Expert level

San Francisco Bay Area

More information about location

Office located in Pleasanton, CA

1001+ employees

B2BHRInternal toolsAnalyticsFinancial ServicesCloud Computing

Company mission

To leverage the power of AI to elevate humans and supercharge work, moving business forever forward.

Job

Company

Role

Who you are

Experience in database systems, compiler design, abstract syntax tree is nice to have
Ideal engineer has worked through the internals of an in-memory database system with focus on scale and quality
9+ years of software engineering experience
7+ years of distributed systems engineering experience utilizing one or more of the following: Java, Scala, Python, Golang
Experience in building Database internals for Query Processing
Deep expertise in designing, building, operating and troubleshooting Linux/Unix-based large-scale Internet systems
Large scale web operations in Software-as-a-Service or Consumer Web

What the job involves

The Query team develops code at the very heart of Workday’s cloud based software platform
As a member of this team you’ll work with exceptionally innovative and experienced engineers that have built highly robust, performant and scalable data query solutions that today service half a billion queries a day with 97% of queries executing in less than 5ms
The Engineer would get experience working in query parsing, query compilation, query planning and indexing
This is an exciting opportunity of building infrastructure at scale for Workday's next generation cloud platform

Our take

Workday is a cloud-based software vendor that provides management of workforces and finances. The company uses a single database for workforce management and financial management to offer integration and optimize business intelligence across companies. It has added to the packages and tools it offers over the years, providing analytic options that allow companies to combine third-party data with information collected by Workday.

The company has also grown through acquisitions and partnerships to broaden its capabilities.. Most recently, in 2025 it purchases Sana, an AI-driven enterprise knowledge and learning platform, to create a "new front door for work". This acquisition allows Workday to integrate Sana's AI-powered search, agents, and learning capabilities with its own data and workflows, allowing employees to access information, automate tasks, and complete their day entirely within Workday.

Through a combination of strategic acquisitions and in-house development, WOrkday has built a comprehensive suite of HR, financial, and enterprise tools. By focusing on innovation and AI-driven workflows, the company continues to push productivity and decision-making for organizations worldwide. Building on this track record, Workday is very much positioned for even more growth, reinforcing its status as a leader in shaping the future of work.

Kirsty

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Insights

Top investors

16% employee growth in 12 months

Glassdoor (4.2)

Trustpilot (1.1)

Company

Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)

Oct 2011

$85m

SERIES F

Apr 2009

$75m

SERIES E

Total funding: $215.3m

Company HQ

Pleasanton, CA

Leadership

Aneel Bhusri

(Co-Founder & Executive Chair)

Annel began his career at Morgan Stanley as a Corporate Finance Analyst. He then spent nearly 6 years at PeopleSoft as a Senior VP before co-founding Workday in 2005, where he has served as the CEO ever since.

Carl Eschenbach

(CEO)

Carl joined Workday in 2022 as Co-CEO, becoming CEO in 2024. He has also been a Partner at Sequoia Capital since 2016. Previously, he spent 14 years at VMware as President and COO and 3 years at Inktomi Corporation as the VP of North America Sales.

Peter Bailis

(CTO)

Prior to joining Workday in 2025, People was a VP of Engineering at Google. He also previously founded Sisu Data, where he served as the CEO for over 5 years.

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