Software Development Engineer - US Federal

Workday, Inc.; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 137,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual stock grants

Bonus plan eligibility

Flexible work approach

Job summary

Workday, Inc. in Reston, VA is seeking a senior engineer to design and operate a highly scalable observability platform supporting government contracts.

You will deploy to EKS on AWS, ensure robust metrics, logs, tracing, and alerts, and collaborate with security and compliance teams to uphold governance across on-prem and cloud environments. Applicants should have cloud deployment experience, strong distributed-systems knowledge, and a background in DevOps, IaC, and CI/CD.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or related technical field.
• 5+ years building and deploying scalable software.
• Experience deploying to AWS/Azure/GCP.
• Scripting skills in any programming language.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems and Kubernetes.

Responsibilities

• Deploy services to EKS on AWS and manage metrics, logs, tracing, and alerts.
• Collaborate with cyber defense for security, governance, and compliance.
• Write ADRs, RCAs, and runbooks; create technical docs.
• Contribute to CI/CD and IaC automation; build tests and environments.
• Develop new metrics, dashboards, and observability improvements.
• Be prepared to work on-site in the DMV area as needed.

Skills

Distributed systems

Linux administration

Scripting skills

Public cloud deployment

Kubernetes knowledge

Education

BS in Computer Science or related technical field

Tools

Prometheus & Grafana Mimir

Kubernetes

Fluent Bit

Kafka

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 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-governmentnon-governemnt 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 them 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

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. Basic Qualifications: Employees may be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area.

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
• Experience 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 Kubernetes, 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.

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.

We do not accept resumes from headhunters, placement agencies, or other suppliers that have not signed a formal agreement with us.

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.