Senior Software Engineer - Context and Semantics (AI)

Workday; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 285,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday in Pleasanton, CA is seeking a Senior Software Development Engineer in Context and Semantics to lead the backend that powers our AI Agents. You will design, code, and scale services that connect foundational models to enterprise data. You will craft advanced RAG pipelines, implement vector search, and develop query federation layers.

You will mentor teammates and help set engineering standards. The role blends distributed data engineering with applied AI in a fast-growing,

Qualifications

• 8+ years in backend or distributed systems engineering.
• 5+ years coding in Java, Python, Scala, or Go.
• 1+ year building production-grade LLM apps, RAG pipelines, or vector search.
• Experience with enterprise data and security considerations.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and deploy backend services, APIs, and data pipelines for Workday’s AI Agents.
• Design and optimize enterprise-grade RAG pipelines with embedding generation and vector DB integration.
• Build distributed query layers (e.g., Trino) to fetch and translate context across systems and data lakes.
• Develop LLM orchestration workflows using LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar frameworks.
• Embed data privacy, tenant isolation, and RBAC into retrieval and context layers.
• Optimize architectures for low-latency retrieval and high-throughput LLM interactions.
• Mentor engineers, lead code/design reviews, and establish best practices for this product area.

Skills

Backend engineering

Programming: Java/Python/Scala/Go

LLM/RAG pipelines

Vector search

Knowledge graphs

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/SE

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Trino/Presto

Spark

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Semantic Kernel

Pinecone

Milvus

Elasticsearch

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.

Within this organization, the Context and Semantics Engineering team acts as the brain trust responsible for making our AI "enterprise-aware." We build the semantic layers, knowledge graphs, query federation engines, and dynamic context systems that ground generative AI in real-world HR and Finance data. By bridging the gap between raw enterprise data and large language models (LLMs), our team ensures that Workday’s autonomous agents can reason accurately, securely, and with deep contextual awareness at a global scale.

About The Role

As a Senior Software Development Engineer in Context and Semantics, you will be a lead builder and technical anchor for the infrastructure powering Workday’s AI Agents. You will be hands‑on in designing, coding, and scaling the backend systems that connect our foundational models to highly complex enterprise data.

Your day‑to‑day will sit at the intersection of distributed data engineering and applied AI. You will build advanced RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines, implement vector search infrastructure, and develop query federation layers (e.g., Trino/LDQ) that seamlessly route LLM data requests across our transactional (OMS) and analytical (Data Lake) stores. We are looking for a highly autonomous, product‑minded engineer who thrives in ambiguity, writes exceptionally clean code, and is passionate about solving the unique latency, cost, and security constraints of enterprise AI.

Responsibilities:

• System Design & Coding: Architect, build, and deploy robust backend services, APIs, and data pipelines that form the core semantic and context layer for Workday’s AI Agents.
• AI & RAG Infrastructure: Design and optimize enterprise-grade RAG pipelines, including embedding generation, intelligent chunking strategies, and vector database integration (e.g., Pinecone, Milvus, Elasticsearch).
• Query Federation & Semantic Routing: Build and scale distributed query execution layers (leveraging technologies like Trino) to seamlessly fetch and translate context across transactional systems and data lakes.
• LLM Orchestration: Develop dynamic context and memory management workflows using modern AI orchestration frameworks (e.g., LlamaIndex, LangChain, GraphRAG) to enable complex, multi‑turn agentic reasoning.
• Security & Guardrails: Embed rigorous data privacy, tenant isolation, and Role‑Based Access Control (RBAC) directly into the retrieval and context layers to ensure governed AI execution.
• Performance & Scale: Optimize system architectures for low‑latency retrieval and high‑throughput LLM interactions, tackling constraints around token management and context‑window efficiency.
• Technical Leadership: Mentor mid‑level and junior engineers, lead code and design reviews, and establish engineering best practices for this new 0-to-1 product area.

About You

Basic Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience focusing on backend architecture, data engineering, or distributed systems.
• 5+ years of strong hands‑on programming expertise in Java, Python, Scala, or Go.
• 1+ years of dedicated experience building production‑grade LLM applications, RAG pipelines, Vector Search systems, or Knowledge Graphs.

Other Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent technical field.
• Experience building or optimizing distributed SQL query engines (e.g., Trino, Presto, Spark) and bridging operational and analytical data stores.
• Deep understanding of modern AI orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel) and embedding models.
• Proven ability to architect scalable, high‑performance REST/gRPC APIs and microservices.
• Experience handling sensitive, highly regulated data with a strong understanding of enterprise security boundaries and data governance.
• Thrives in Ambiguity: A highly autonomous builder capable of taking open‑ended AI product goals and breaking them down into concrete, scalable engineering realities.
• Experience with the Workday platform or enterprise SaaS architectures is a strong plus.

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 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.

Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $190,100 USD - $285,100 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $160,100 USD - $285,100 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.

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.

In addition, 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.

Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers.

Please be aware of sites that may ask you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.

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.

Workday is ready to build a brighter tomorrow together.