Principal DataOps Engineer (DevOps for Data)

Workday; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday, Inc. in the United States seeks a Principal DataOps Engineer (P5) to lead the data platform program execution and set architectural standards across the enterprise cloud.

You’ll define the long-term vision, drive multi-quarter roadmaps, and mentor engineers while delivering data-as-a-product assets at scale. You will shape DataOps, Data Product, and Active Data Governance, embed AI capabilities into delivery lines, and orchestrate cross-team transformations to sustain growth.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of professional leadership in DataOps/DevOps or platform engineering within enterprise data and analytics.
• Experience managing and scaling data platform products, cluster configurations, and CI/CD networks.
• Experience operating at senior leadership levels and guiding multi-team transformations.

Responsibilities

• Define long-term vision and core execution standards for the data platform portfolio.
• Lead multi-quarter roadmaps and architecture blueprints for enterprise cloud infrastructure.
• Govern global platform administration paradigms and Infrastructure as Code standards.
• Mentor senior engineers and develop foundational infrastructure modules.
• Establish and govern data governance, data product, and DataOps methodologies.
• Advance AI-first workforce strategies by integrating AI capabilities into delivery pipelines.

Skills

DataOps leadership

DevOps

cloud automation

program management

platform engineering

Tools

Terraform

CI/CD pipelines

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

In 2024, Workday launched the Enterprise Data and Analytics (ED&A) team with a mission to transform and optimize the way Workday creates and shares trusted data to drive actionable insights and data-led innovation across the enterprise.

About the Role

As a Principal DataOps Engineer (P5), you serve as a preeminent technical authority, strategic leader, and primary architect of Workday's data platform program execution and methodology deployment. Operating at the highest tier of individual contribution, you define the long-term vision, core execution standards, and multi-quarter roadmaps for a mission-critical infrastructure portfolio, ensuring our platforms are structurally positioned to support Workday's hyper-growth trajectory. You resolve high-level technical ambiguity, mitigate existential architecture risks, and lead complex multi-team transformations to deliver data-as-a-product assets at scale.

We are at the center of Workday's AI-forward operating model, defining and governing the structural use of DataOps, Data Product, and Active Data Governance frameworks across the enterprise ecosystem. We provide the overarching operational blueprints for embedding advanced AI capabilities into our continuous delivery lines, building language model solutions and automated workflows that safely power autonomous workloads. Concurrently, we lead the transition to an AI-first workforce, designing division-level agent networks inside Sana and Gemini environments to automate routine tasks, manage technical debt, and multiply organization-wide delivery velocity.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Delivery : Serve as the preeminent technical authority defining the long-term vision, core execution standards, and multi-quarter architecture blueprints for a mission-critical enterprise cloud infrastructure portfolio. Govern global platform administration paradigms and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) architecture standards and, CICD pipelines, mentoring senior engineers and establishing foundational infrastructure modules across the organization
• Knowledge Management : Establish and govern function-wide knowledge synchronization standards and "Documentation as Code" paradigms across the global DevOps and Analytics Engineering job families to ensure enterprise architectural clarity
• Incident Response & Operational Resilience : Mitigate existential infrastructure and architecture risks across the global enterprise. Design high-scale zero-trust data reliability parameters and predictive platform telemetry layers to guarantee unbroken data platform uptime during hyper-growth cycles
• Agile Operational Facilitation: Sponsor and chair cross-functional technical review boards to align technical direction across competing business segments. Drive complex multi-team infrastructure transformations, navigate platform migration blocks, and manage capital resource planning
• ED&A Methodologies : Establish and govern the core operational blueprints for embedding DataOps and Active Data Governance principles directly into our master software continuous delivery pipelines
• AI Productivity : Pioneer the implementation of an AI-first workforce strategy by building division-level agent networks and automated scripts natively inside Cursor IDE, Sana, and Gemini tracks to automate code refactoring, system validation, and portfolio tracking at an enterprise scale

About You

Basic Qualifications:

• 12+ years of professional technical leadership experience in DataevOps, DevOps, cloud automation, program management, or platform engineering tracks within enterprise data and analytics.
• 12+ years of experience in managing and scaling a suite of interrelated data platform products, cluster configurations, and CI/CD networks at an enterprise level.
• 12+ years of experience performing within leadershi