Mid/Senior Software Engineer - Developer Platform (US Federal)
Workday, Inc.
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Job summary
Workday, Inc. in Reston, VA is seeking a Software Engineer for the Developer Platform Observability team. You will design and deliver scalable, secure, developer-friendly solutions supporting logs, metrics, and system health.
This hands-on role requires code quality, thoughtful design, and cross-functional collaboration. The position involves federal contracts, potential TS/SCI level clearance, and on-site work in the DC/MD/VA area.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience and backend ownership.
- 3+ years in microservice or event-driven architectures at scale.
- 5+ years in Java or similar OO languages, with design patterns.
- Experience delivering backend services with APIs used by teams or clients.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field.
Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain backend services and APIs for observability and logging.
- Apply OO design and algorithmic thinking to scalable solutions.
- Write automated tests and participate in code reviews for quality.
- Automate operations and enhance self-service of deployment platform.
- Author and maintain technical docs for internal users and teams.
- Collaborate with specialists to deliver scalable solutions.
- Support compliant deployments in federal environments, including AGR.
- Participate in design sessions with candid communication and collaboration.
Skills
Education
Tools
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.
Your work matters here. At Workday Government, we focus on outcomes that serve a larger mission. Our work supports U.S. federal agencies as they modernize and transform the full employee lifecycle experience and finance operations—so they can operate with greater clarity, accountability, and trust. As a Fortune 500 company and a proven enterprise cloud platform, Workday brings modern technology, responsible AI, and secure infrastructure to some of the most complex environments in the world. The work isn’t theoretical. It’s operational. It’s high-impact. And it demands rigor, integrity, and long‑term thinking.
The Developer Platform Observability team is dedicated to building the tools and infrastructure that power visibility, performance, and reliability across Workday’s Developer Platform. If you are energized by building infrastructure that makes complex systems understandable and gives developers confidence in what they ship, this is the team for you. If you’re looking to apply your experience to meaningful, mission‑driven work—alongside colleagues who take pride in building things that last—you’ll find that opportunity at Workday.
This role will support one or more direct or indirect contracts with the U.S. Federal Government which, due to federal government security requirements, mandates that all Workday personnel working on the contracts be United States citizens (naturalized or native). As a Software Engineer on the Developer Platform Observability team, you will design and deliver scalable, secure, and developer‑friendly solutions that support everything from logs and metrics to system health and diagnostics. This is a hands‑on engineering position where code quality, thoughtful design, and tight‑knit collaboration are key to success. This role serves as a key technical liaison between the Developer Platform and the Workday Government organization. You will have the unique opportunity to influence our core observability strategy while ensuring our platform meets the rigorous demands of our Federal customers.
- Develop and maintain backend services and APIs that support customer observability and logging systems.
- Apply algorithmic thinking and object‑oriented design to create maintainable and performant solutions.
- Write comprehensive automated tests and participate in code reviews to ensure quality and resiliency.
- Identify and eliminate manual operational work by automating tasks and improving the self‑service capabilities of our deployment platform.
- Author and maintain clear, usable technical documentation for internal users and team members.
- Collaborate with other specialists across the organization to understand use cases and deliver solutions that scale.
- Support compliant deployments of services and new metrics backend architecture in federal environments, including AGR.
- Participate in team discussions and design sessions with candid communication and a collaborative mindset.
This role will support one or more direct or indirect contracts with the U.S. Federal Government which, due to federal government security requirements, mandates that all Workday personnel working on the contracts be United States citizens (naturalized or native).
May be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area.
This role may require a security clearance at the TS/SCI w/CI Poly level. Applicants must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance. An active TS/SCI w/CI Poly is preferred.
Strong software development experience, with fluency in modern backend languages and design principles. Proficiency in API development, code testing, and object‑oriented programming. A knack for simplifying complex technical problems into scalable and practical implementations. Strong team collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to work across functions and roles. A commitment to trust building, accountability, and adaptability in a fast‑moving environment. Curiosity and creativity in solving problems and improving developer experience.
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including ownership of backend services in production.
- 3+ years of hands‑on experience with microservice or event‑driven architectures for large‑scale distributed systems
- 3+ years of experience in object‑oriented programming with Java or a similar language, applying design patterns to build maintainable services.
- Experience delivering backend services that expose APIs used by other teams or external clients, including responsibility for basic observability (logging, metrics, and alerting).
- Bachelor’s degree or higher, in Computer Science/Engineering or related technical field.
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including ownership and end‑to‑end delivery of backend services in production.
- 5+ years of hands‑on experience designing and operating microservice or event‑driven architectures for large‑scale distributed systems.
- 5+ years of experience in object‑oriented programming with Java or a similar language, applying design patterns to build maintainable, performant services at scale.
- Demonstrated experience leading the design and delivery of backend services that expose APIs used by other teams or external clients, including end‑to‑end responsibility for observability (logging, metrics, and alerting).
- Experience influencing technical direction across teams and mentoring other engineers through code reviews, design reviews, and technical guidance.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher, in Computer Science/Engineering or related technical field.
- DoD 8570/8140 compliant with at least IAT Level II certification, including a current Computing Environment (CE) credential and one approved specialty certification (e.g., CompTIA CySA+, GICSP, CASP+)
- Bachelor’s degree or higher, in Computer Science/Engineering or related technical field.
- Strong software development skills, with fluency in modern backend languages and design principles, and a track record of writing clear, maintainable code.
- Experience with observability technologies such as Grafana Loki or Prometheus, Elasticsearch, Beats, Logstash, or OpenTelemetry, and the ability to use these tools to make complex systems understandable.
- Experience with cloud‑native architectures and tooling (for example Docker, Kubernetes, Istio, Helm, or Envoy), including deploying and operating services in these environments.
- Experience with AWS data and compute services such as Lambda, S3, Kinesis, Iceberg, Athena, or Glue, and how they fit into an observability or logging pipeline.
- Experience building backend services using technologies such as Java, Kotlin, Golang, and RESTful APIs.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (for example CloudFormation or Terraform) to define and manage infrastructure in a repeatable way.
- Ability to simplify complex technical problems into scalable, practical implementations that balance reliability, performance, and developer experience.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills, with experience working across functions and roles and contributing constructively in design discussions and reviews.
- Demonstrated commitment to automated testing and code quality, including writing comprehensive tests to ensure the resilience of critical services.
- Curiosity and creativity in solving problems and improving developer experience, with a mindset of reducing manual operational work through automation and self‑service tools.
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.
For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here.
Primary Location: USA.VA.Reston
Primary Location Base Pay Range: $163,800 USD - $245,800 USD
Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $148,200 USD - $264,000 USD
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. Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. At Workday, we are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive hiring experience where all candidates can fully demonstrate their skills. If you require assistance or an accommodation at any point, please email accommodations@workday.com.
Workday is a proud 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.
We do not accept resumes from headhunters, placement agencies, or other suppliers that have not signed a formal agreement with us. 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 accommodations@workday.com, as far in advance as possible.
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