Senior Principal Open Source Architect

Workday • Pleasanton, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Your work days are brighter here. We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As 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. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too. About the Team At Workday, we help the world’s largest organizations adapt to what’s next by bringing finance, HR, and planning into a single enterprise cloud. We work hard, and we’re serious about what we do. But we like to have fun, too. We put people first, celebrate diversity, drive innovation, and do good in the communities where we live and work. The Workday Open Source Program Office (OSPO) is the strategic hub that bridges the gap between our internal engineering velocity and the global open source ecosystem. Our vision is to empower every Workday engineer to consume and contribute to open source software securely, compliantly, and effectively. This role sits within the OSPO and reaches both inside and outside the company, ensuring Workday has a seat at the table in the communities that define the future of enterprise technology. About the Role Workday is seeking a Senior Principal Open Source Architect to be a strategic leader within the global open source community, an internal and external face of our engineering open source culture, and an advocate for all Workmates to contribute to and use open source technologies. Reporting to the Vice-President of Open Technology and AI, this is a high-impact role for a recognized industry leader who is deep in the open source ecosystem. You will not just advocate for our technology; you will shape and lead how Workday participates in open governance, influence upstream projects that are critical to our platform, and elevate our employer brand among top-tier engineering talent. Why This Role Matters Workday relies on open source, and the open source community relies on active contributors. This role matters because it shifts Workday from a consumer of technology to a shaper of technology. By securing influence in upstream projects and representing Workday on governing boards, you ensure our architectural needs are met in the broader ecosystem. You will be a force multiplier for our internal engineers, helping them navigate community politics to get their code merged and their voices heard.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, developer advocacy, or product strategy or equivalent
• Proven status as a maintainer, committer, or governance board member of a tier-1 open source project or foundations such as Kubernetes, Apache Kafka, Linux Kernel, or PyTorch.
• Demonstrated experience speaking at major global technical conferences (past talk recordings or portfolios will be requested).
• Experience organizing community events, hackathons, or contributor summits.

Nice To Haves

• Expertise in cloud-native technologies, distributed systems, or enterprise SaaS architecture.
• Existing strong relationships with key influencers and leaders in the open source ecosystem.
• Ability to communicate complex technical trends to C-level executives and translate them into business opportunities.
• Excellent judgment and decision-making skills regarding public communication and brand reputation.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent contribution history).

Responsibilities

• Active Contribution: Lead by example by maintaining a consistent presence in open source projects through code contributions, high quality peer reviews, and architectural influence.
• Strategic Advocacy: Craft and deliver high-level technical narratives that define Workday as a premier engineering organization. Secure and deliver keynote-level presentations at major global conferences.
• Community Bridge: Act as the ambassador between external open source communities and internal Workday product teams. Translate external community trends into internal product strategy.
• Internal Enablement: Guide fellow Workmates on how to navigate open source contribution and use effectively.
• Partnership Development: Identify and cultivate strategic relationships with key maintainers and influencers in the ecosystem to accelerate Workday’s platform objectives.
• Content Strategy: Drive the creation of deep-dive technical content, white papers, and engineering blog posts that highlight Workday’s contributions to the community.
• Ecosystem Leadership: Represent Workday in external open source communities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior