Principal, Software Development Engineer

Workday•Pleasanton, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the development of our internal suite of AI-native infrastructure tools and automation frameworks. This role requires a unique combination of experience in distributed systems and the technical ability to bridge the gap between AI strategy and robust software execution. As a Principal Software Engineer, focused around AI tooling and strategy, you will help define how our infrastructure is structured, analyzed, and automated using AI tools. You will act as a primary link between our AI initiatives and core Engineering teams, transforming conceptual ideas into indispensable platform capabilities. As a Principal Software Engineer within Infrastructure Engineering, you will be the strategic leader delivering complex services in a dynamic, evolving environment. Your mission is to evolve our infrastructure from "human-led" to "AI-led, human-governed," using your technical background to automate complex lifecycles and improve system resolution times.

Requirements

Experience: Extensive professional software engineering experience with a proven track record of delivering complex, end-to-end services.
Technical Domain: Deep experience in large-scale platform architecture, distributed systems, and implementing AI/ML analytics in production environments.
Infrastructure Expertise: Strong technical background in IaaS, PaaS, Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), container orchestration, and automation.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Strategic Leadership: Ability to deliver on a long-term vision by understanding the big picture and owning business outcomes.
Collaboration: Exceptional at building relationships across teams and facilitating discussions to reach technical consensus.
Resilience: Experience leading effectively through uncertainty and high-impact challenges with a positive attitude.
Engineering Standards: Demonstrated ability to set and influence team standards for software design, patterns, and code reviews.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience as a people manager is a bonus.

Responsibilities

AI-Native Engineering & Innovation Shape AI Development: Lead the creation of frameworks that utilize AI and ML-driven telemetry to automate infrastructure.
Technology Vision: Stay current with industry trends to drive the adoption of AI-native engineering and impact future business direction.
Creative Problem Solving: Apply original thinking to overcome technical roadblocks during major transitions.
Software Excellence & Product Delivery Scalable Leadership: Champion an "API-first" approach and guide cross-functional teams in adopting modern software patterns like IaC, microservices, and use of MCP.
Architectural Initiative: Design large-scale, cross-team features and set the technical product vision for the organization.
Strategic Trade-offs: Balance design choices to optimize customer value while maintaining high quality for committed delivery dates.
Operational Transformation & Service Ownership Monitoring Strategy: Define and drive a comprehensive monitoring strategy that supports an AI-led operational model.
Platform Improvement: Proactively identify bottlenecks across the platform to enhance the overall customer experience.
Project Accountability: Take responsibility for project quality and team performance across all deployments.
Leadership & Influence Strategic Alliance Builder: Proactively build alliances with cross-functional technical peers and leaders to move initiatives forward.
Mentorship: Grow the technical bar by mentoring experienced staff and other principal engineers.
Technical Advisor: Serve as a respected advisor with deep functional domain knowledge, influencing technology selections across the company.
Change Agent: Confidently drive decisions through ambiguity and facilitate technical discussions when there are conflicting viewpoints.