Sr Software Development Engineer

Workday•Vancouver, BC

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Workday is seeking a Senior Software Development Engineer to join their AI Core team. This role involves designing, building, and operating software systems for AI-powered applications at Workday. The AI Core team focuses on challenging problems at the intersection of machine learning, agentic reasoning, and enterprise-scale systems, delivering critical AI platform capabilities and agent applications. The engineer will work closely with machine learning engineers to develop production-grade backend services, design APIs and integrations for AI capabilities, build data ingestion and ETL pipelines, apply distributed systems principles for scalability and fault tolerance, and ensure systems meet enterprise requirements for security, privacy, robustness, and compliance. The role includes owning services throughout their lifecycle, from deployment to operational improvements.

Requirements

8+ years of professional software development experience, including architecting, building, and scaling secure, robust, and efficient software systems
5+ years of experience with Python development
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent practical experience
Understanding of object-oriented design principles and ability to apply them in a Python context
Proficiency with advanced Python concepts, such as asynchronous and concurrent programming, generators, and higher-order abstractions
Ability to write clean, testable, and well-structured code, with high standards for clarity, aesthetics, and long-term maintainability
Deep systems knowledge, including comfort operating in and debugging Unix/Linux environments, fluency with command-line tooling, and understanding of practical networking fundamentals
Understanding of distributed systems concepts, including concurrency, fault tolerance, and performance tradeoffs
Ability to design and build well-defined, stable APIs and service interfaces for consumption by other teams and systems
Proficiency with cloud and container platforms, including containerized workloads and orchestration systems (e.g., AWS or GCP, Docker, Kubernetes)

Nice To Haves

Ability to collaborate effectively across teams, working closely with other engineers while maintaining independent execution
Ownership mindset, able to take responsibility for a work area and deliver high-quality, reliable systems
Ability to mentor and coach other engineers, promoting best practices and raising the engineering bar
Architectural thinking skills, with the ability to contribute meaningful ideas and practical solutions in design and architecture discussions
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Responsibilities

Work closely with machine learning engineers to write and maintain production-grade backend services that power AI-driven capabilities and agent applications
Design and implement APIs and service integrations that enable AI capabilities to be consumed across Workday products and platforms
Build and operate data ingestion and ETL pipelines that support AI application workflows
Apply distributed systems principles in production to address scalability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and performance challenges
Ensure systems meet enterprise requirements for security, privacy, robustness, and compliance
Own services through their full lifecycle, including deployment, monitoring, debugging, and ongoing operational improvements