Software Development Engineer (US Federal)

Workday; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 222,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday is hiring for an Observability Platform Engineer to join our Data Platform and Observability team. This role focuses on scaling and operating real-time data systems across Workday's platforms and services, including security-conscious government-contract contexts.

You will deploy and manage metrics, logs, and dashboards while collaborating with cyber defense and other engineering teams. You will join a team that values scalable distributed systems, robust cloud engineering, and strong

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience building and deploying highly scalable software.
• Experience deploying software to public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Scripting skills with any programming language.
• Understanding of distributed systems.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Kubernetes.
• Experience with Linux-based system administration.

Responsibilities

• Use Terraform and Argo CD to deploy services to EKS AWS in production environments.
• Operate metrics, logging, tracing, and alerting for large-scale data across indexes and time series.
• Collaborate with cyber defense to ensure security, governance, and compliance.
• Participate in on-call rotation for observability platform.
• Write ADRs, RCAs, and runbooks documenting critical decisions.
• Work with Government and non-government environments to ensure healthy practices.
• Build out CI/CD tooling and test environments; improve automation.
• Create new metrics, logs, alerts, and dashboards to observability gaps.
• May work from an air-gapped region or SCIF as required.

Skills

Distributed systems design

Kubernetes

DevOps practices

CI/CD tooling

Terraform

Argo CD

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Terraform

Argo CD

AWS

Azure

GCP

Prometheus

Grafana Mimir

Fluent Bit

Kafka

Elasticsearch

Linux

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 Platform and Observability team, located in Pleasanton, CA; Boston, MA; Boulder, CO, Atlanta, GA, and Dublin, Ireland, empowers real-time insights across Workday’s platforms, infrastructure, and applications. Our mission is to develop and operate a large-scale distributed data platform that fuels critically important Workday applications.

We provide software solutions for the collection, ingestion, storage, and visualization of critical data assets. We manage hundreds of terabytes of data, encompassing billions of messages generated daily by Workday applications and underlying services. If you’re passionate about crafting efficient software or optimizing and scaling large distributed systems, you’ll find a fulfilling home with us.

About the Role

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).

Are you eager to work on highly-scalable distributed systems? Come join our team of competent, personable engineers operating and improving Workday Government’s observability platform.

Role & Responsibilities

• Use Terraform and Argo CD to deploy services to EKS AWS in production environments
• Be responsible for the reliable operation of Metrics, Logging, Tracing, and Alerting services handling terabytes of data in tens of billions of documents across hundreds of indexes and tens of millions of active time series
• Collaborate with our cyber defense team to ensure security operations, cybersecurity posture, governance, risk, compliance, and platform security health
• Participate in the on-call rotation supporting the observability platform
• Resolve issues internal customers may have with our services
• Write various forms of technical documentation, such as ADRs, RCAs, and runbooks
• Collaborate with managers and engineers at our parent company to ensure healthy engineering practices for both government and non-government environments
• Build out test environments, tooling, and automation to implement CI/CD best practices
• Construct new metrics, logs, alerts, and dashboards where there are gaps with what we can observe about our system and the other services using it
• You may be responsible for observability services deployed to an air-gapped region and you may be required to regularly work from a SCIF

About You

Basic Qualifications:

• BS in Computer Science or a related technical field
• Minimum 5 years of experience building and deploying highly-scalable software
• Experience deploying software to public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Scripting skills with any programming language
• Understanding of system design, particularly distributed systems
• Good knowledge and understanding of Kubernetes
• Experience with Linux-based system administration

Other Qualifications:

• Demonstrable experience with Prometheus and Grafana Mimir
• Demonstrable experience with Fluent Bit, Kafka, and Elasticsearch
• Strong DevOps knowledge and hands-on experience with IaC and CI/CD tools

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. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here.

Primary Location: USA.VA.Reston

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $137,000 USD - $205,400 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $123,900 USD - $222,000 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.

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.

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