Description
We’re Workday, 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 Data Platform and Observability Engineering (DPOE) team is building Workday’s next-generation, multi-petabyte-scale Observability Platform. We are a distributed team responsible for the libraries, distributed services, and infrastructure that power observability across Workday.
About the Role As a Senior Software Development Engineer, you will own the technical design and execution of core components of Workday’s distributed tracing platform, built on ClickHouse and/or Grafana Tempo and backed by a big-data pipeline using Kafka, Spark/Flink, Iceberg, and S3. This is a hands-on role where you will solve multi-petabyte-scale challenges, optimize low-latency infrastructure, and shape the future of Observability AI by extending distributed tracing to LLM and agentic workflows with LangSmith and LangChain, enabling visibility into agent execution, tool calls, and prompt/response chains.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and operate complex distributed system architectures
- Solve multi-petabyte-scale challenges and optimize low-latency infrastructure
- Extend distributed tracing to LLM and agentic workflows with LangSmith and LangChain
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality solutions
Requirements
- 8+ years experience in software development engineering
- 4+ years experience specifically focused on designing, building, and operating complex distributed system architectures
- 5+ years experience with at least two of the following programming languages: Java, Go, Scala, Python
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline; a Master's degree (e.g., MS in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, or related field) is strongly preferred or equivalent practical experience
Nice to Have
- Strong ability in Algorithmic Thinking, including building highly efficient and scalable solutions for complex high-throughput data ingestion and sub-second query performance challenges
- Solid experience in API Development, including an understanding of gRPC, REST, and OpenTelemetry (OTLP)
- Strong understanding of Code Testing methodologies, such as distributed load testing and integration testing
- Experience implementing and maintaining High Availability strategies for critical distributed systems
- Practical experience with Large Scale Data Processing technologies and frameworks such as Apache Kafka, Spark, Flink, and Apache Iceberg
Benefits
- Annualized base salary ranges: $190,100 USD - $285,100 USD (Primary Location), $160,100 USD - $285,100 USD (Additional US Locations)
- Eligibility for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus
- Annual refresh stock grants
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Flexible work arrangements, including remote and in-office work options