Director, Product Manager, Context Engine – Data Cloud

Workday, Inc.; Pleasanton (CA); Hybrid; USD 232,000 - 348,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday, Inc. seeks a Director, Product Manager for the Context Engine within the Data Cloud. You will own the multi-year vision, bridging structured data with unstructured documents to power AI agents in an enterprise context.

Lead cross-functional teams across engineering, data science, and GTM to deliver a scalable semantic platform. Ideal candidates have 8+ years in technical product management, experience with knowledge graphs, and a strong background in large-scale data platforms and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in technical product management, data platform strategy, software engineering, or equivalent.
• Experience in enterprise SaaS and large-scale data platforms.
• Knowledge graph, semantic layer, or LLM-routing focus with engineering collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-year vision and roadmap for the Universal Context Engine within Workday Data Cloud.
• Translate architectural needs into actionable execution with clear engineering outcomes.
• Anchor monetization and ecosystem lock-in by establishing a trusted semantic context layer.
• Collaborate with data engineers, graph architects, and AI teams to ensure scalable, high-performance delivery.
• Design dynamic security, knowledge graphs, and time-aware data models for real-time agent workflows.

Skills

Technical product management

Data platform strategy

Enterprise SaaS

Knowledge graph / semantic layer

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Job description

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

The Data Cloud organization is at the forefront of Workday’s next major wave of innovation, driven by a bold mandate to build the industry’s first true Platform for Agents. We are a high-energy, ambitious team that balances Workday's deep foundational expertise with fresh, forward-thinking perspectives to accelerate our pace of delivery and unlock massive new commercial value. By leveraging Workday’s unique business context, trusted data, and identity guardrails, we are building the critical engine that will power the future of AI and agentic workflows across the enterprise. As a team, we value organizational clarity, deep cross-functional collaboration, and rapid execution, working together to evolve our architecture and aggressively scale our impact in the market. The Data Cloud organization is seeking a visionary, deeply technical Director, Product Manager to lead the internal development of our Universal Context Engine. This individual will drive the product strategy and execution for bridging Workday’s structured enterprise data with unstructured documents, creating a unified knowledge graph and semantic layer for our AI platform. This role involves defining advanced semantic routing, temporal reasoning capabilities, and declarative operational schemas to enable safe, trusted AI agents at scale. The Director, Product Manager will act as the pivotal leader connecting cutting-edge engineering capabilities with strict enterprise business constraints, unlocking a new frontier of value for our premium Data Cloud offerings and establishing long-term ecosystem gravity.

About the Role

As the Director, Product Manager for the Context Engine, you will own the multi-year vision and roadmap for the foundational context layer of the Workday Data Cloud. You will bridge complex data modalities, define reliable query execution paths, and enable secure, autonomous agentic workflows.

Product Strategy & Platform Execution

• Platform Vision: Lead the multi-year vision, roadmap, and core platform requirements for the internal build of the Universal Context Engine, integrating deeply with our core query and data lake architectures.
• Strategy into Execution: Translate high-level architectural needs into rigorous operational execution, ensuring absolute clarity, engineering focus, and measurable business outcomes for our AI data layer.
• Monetization & Ecosystem Lock-In: Anchor third-party developers and partners to Workday by establishing a trusted, governed context layer that serves as a strict technical prerequisite for premium, autonomous operational agents.

Core Technical Capabilities

• Unified Semantic Fabric: Define capabilities for dynamic entity mapping, seamlessly bridging structured enterprise data with unstructured assets and documents into a single, queryable enterprise fabric.
• Advanced Semantic Translation: Collaborate with engineering to build highly scalable translation layers that accurately convert natural language intent into optimized query execution paths, cleanly delegating processing down to our data gateways.
• Operational Action Schemas: Architect a secure write-path for autonomous agents by defining rule engines and API integrations that bind strict business logic and governance directly to agentic action schemas.
• Context Optimization & Security: Pioneer dynamic security and filtering mechanisms that evaluate user identity and access policies to optimize the context space prior to LLM interaction, improving system performance and mitigating hallucination risks.
• Time-Aware Data Modeling: Architect product requirements for advanced knowledge graphs capable of natively understanding complex, time-bound enterprise data models to securely support real-time agentic eventing.

Cross-Functional Interlocks & GTM Alignment

• Engineering Partnership: Act as a strategic partner to Data Cloud engineering, graph architects, and AI platform teams to ensure scalable, high-performance execution without legacy technical debt.
• API & Framework Composability: Partner with broader Workday ecosystem teams (including Workday Extend) to expose standardized APIs and framework gateways, ensuring our semantic context is safely accessible to first-party and approved third-party agents.
• Go-To-Market Alignment: Serve as the connective tissue between platform engineering and GTM teams to ensure our trusted context layer translates directly into the monetization of premium Data Cloud offerings and continuous compute consumption.

About You

• Basic Qualifications: 8+ years of experience in technical product management, data platform strategy, software engineering, or equivalent BA, BS, or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Deep experience in an enterprise SaaS and large-scale data platform environment.
• Knowledge graph, semantic layer, or LLM-routing focused experience, with a strong background working closely with foundational engineering and AI teams.
• Demonstrated experience in taking complex, zero-to-one technical capabilities from concept to enterprise-grade execution.
• Ability to collaborate across teams to create strategic storyboards and product roadmaps for executive and highly technical audiences.
• Ability to learn quickly within a fast-paced team, including diving deep into highly technical topics (e.g., deterministic SQL compilers, temporal reasoning, and early-binding security).
• Ability to handle interpersonal relationships with a high degree of emotional intelligence and self-awareness.

Workday Pay Transparency Statement

The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things.

• Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton
• Primary Location Base Pay Range: $232,000 USD - $348,000 USD
• Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $196,100 USD - $348,000 USD

Our Approach to Flexible Work

With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote “home office” roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.

Pursuant to applicable Fair Chance law, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law. Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law. If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [e-mail], as far in advance as possible.

Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday. We do not accept resumes from headhunters, placement agencies, or other suppliers that have not signed a formal agreement with us. Workday is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Workday are considered without regards to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Further, pursuant to applicable local ordinances, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. You may view the Workday’s Pay Transparency Policy, and Know Your Rights Notice, by clicking on their corresponding links. Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law. Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodation, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law. If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [e-mail], as far in advance as possible.