Principal API Architect, Product Engineering, Workday
Agent‑Ready APIs & Data
$206.4-309.6k
The application deadline for this role is the same as the posting end date stated as below: 10/15/2026
More information about location
Enterprise AI platform for managing HR, finance & IT
Open for applications
Enterprise AI platform for managing HR, finance & IT
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$206.4-309.6k
The application deadline for this role is the same as the posting end date stated as below: 10/15/2026
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To leverage the power of AI to elevate humans and supercharge work, moving business forever forward.
Role
Who you are
- Minimum of 12 years of experience building large-scale, mission-critical backend systems and APIs; with responsibility for cross-team or organization-wide API/platform architecture
- Minimum of 7 years of experience in software engineering, with hands-on experience in object-oriented modeling and software design concepts such as domain modeling, abstraction, encapsulation, extensibility, and maintainable service design
- Minimum of 5 ears of experience designing API endpoints that expose product functionality clearly, consistently, securely, and at scale
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
- Deep hands-on experience with object-oriented modeling and software design concepts, using Java, TypeScript or Python to build maintainable web services and APIs across REST, SOAP, JSON, XML,and Swagger/OpenAPI
- Experience designing API endpoints that expose product functionality clearly, consistently, and securely at scale, with a proven track record of setting and driving technical standards across multiple teams
- Experience leveraging AI‑assisted code generation and review tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) to improve development speed and quality
- Strong expertise in distributed systems and cloud architectures, including high‑throughput, low‑latency services, horizontal scaling, and fault‑tolerant design
- Extensive experience with edge and gateway patterns (routing, auth, throttling, rate limiting, transformation, multi‑tenant concerns)
- Demonstrated leadership in API governance: standards definition, contract review, documentation, and lifecycle management
- Experience designing or evolving observability for APIs (metrics, tracing, logging) and using that data to define and monitor SLOs
- Familiarity with agentic AI use cases and patterns for integrating LLMs/agents with enterprise APIs
- Experience with data platforms and analytical stores (such as Data Cloud or equivalent) and designing APIs that expose data safely and efficiently
- Ability to collaborate and influence across Product Engineering, platform teams, and business stakeholders
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to articulate complex technical topics in simple, compelling terms
- Passion for growing others: mentoring staff‑level engineers, supporting managers, and building a strong API culture within Product Engineering
- Growth mindset and comfort working in evolving spaces where the operating model is still being defined
What the job involves
- As a Principal API Architect in Product Engineering, you'll own the API architecture vision for the organization — setting the standards, review processes, and reference architectures that guide how Product Engineering teams design and deliver APIs
- You'll work closely with product and engineering leaders to turn that vision into practice across teams
- Define and evolve the API architecture, standards, and governance model for Product Engineering, spanning REST, GraphQL, SOAP, and emerging integration patterns used by Workday's agents and products
- Partner with product and engineering teams to design product capabilities end to end — domain models, service boundaries, object models, and API endpoints — translating product requirements into scalable backend services and well-structured API contracts
- Establish and maintain API standards, including OpenAPI contract guidelines, resource modeling and naming conventions, authentication and multi-tenant patterns, and error handling, versioning, and deprecation policies
- Partner with "API champions" across product areas to shape API roadmaps, identify gaps or duplication, and drive convergence on shared patterns and building blocks
- Define reference architectures for agent-ready APIs used by the Agent Factory, data-centric APIs that safely expose data through Data Cloud, and latency and observability standards across the request path
- Lead cross-team API design reviews and serve as the final decision-maker on contentious or high-impact design questions
- Shape and run a single, transparent intake and prioritization process for Product Engineering's API investments, and evaluate build/borrow/buy decisions for supporting tools such as contract testing, catalogs, and developer tooling
- Mentor senior engineers and managers on API architecture and integration best practices, build communities of practice across Product Engineering, and communicate the API vision and progress to senior stakeholders
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
16% employee growth in 12 months
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 & CEO)Annel began their career at Morgan Stanley as a Corporate Finance Analyst. They then spent nearly 6 years at PeopleSoft as a Senior VP before co-founding Workday in 2005.
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