Prinicipal, Machine Learning Engineer

Job Description

Your work days are brighter here.

At Workday, it all began with a conversation over breakfast. When our founders met at a sunny California diner, they came up with an idea to revolutionize the enterprise software market. And when we began to rise, one thing that really set us apart was our culture. A culture which was driven by our value of putting our people first. And ever since, the happiness, development, and contribution of every Workmate is central to who we are. Our Workmates believe a healthy employee-centric, collaborative culture is the essential mix of ingredients for success in business. That's why we look after our people, communities and the planet while still being profitable. Feel encouraged to shine, however that manifests: you don't need to hide who you are. You can feel the energy and the passion, it's what makes us unique. Inspired to make a brighter work day for all and transform with us to the next stage of our growth journey Bring your brightest version of you and have a brighter work day here.

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About the Team

The Enterprise Data Science and Innovation team is driving the future of artificial intelligence at Workday. We develop breakthrough solutions using the latest GenAI technology stack while building, maintaining, and monitoring GenAI based solution and ML models that deliver game-changing insights to power critical business functions across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Customer Experience, and other key organizational areas.

Our team consists of diverse and passionate data scientists and ML engineers who are committed to delivering Advanced Analytics insights that directly impact both revenue growth and operational efficiency. We foster a collaborative, supportive work environment where innovation thrives and team members genuinely enjoy working together to solve complex challenges.

About the Role

As a key member of our fast-moving team, you will have the unique opportunity to define and execute the vision for AI and LLM-based systems at scale.You will be at the forefront of developing next-generation AI and Large Language Model based solution that transform how Workday delivers intelligent solutions to our customers and internal stakeholders. We are looking for someone with exceptional programming expertise, deep distributed systems knowledge, and the curiosity and grit to tackle complex, ambiguous challenges. You will work across a diverse technology stack, collaborate closely with engineers and product leaders, and help set the technical direction for AI initiatives while architecting and building robust, scalable AI/LLM platforms from the ground up.

About You

Basic Qualifications

- 12-15+ years in software, solution, or enterprise architecture with hands-on delivery of production-grade AI/ML systems
- Architect, design, and implement production systems in Python (full-stack experience a plus)
- Deep expertise in cloud architecture on at least one hyperscaler (AWS, Azure, GCP) with ability to design and optimize cloud-native AI workloads
- Proven MLOps and ML platform experience: data pipelines(PySpark), model lifecycle (training, evaluation, deployment), CI/CD, and monitoring
- Working knowledge of Generative AI / LLMs: prompting, fine-tuning, and rapid prototyping
- Strong foundation in SaaS, multi-tenant architectures, microservices, and APIs-particularly around integrating AI into products and workflows
- Excellent communication skills: able to engage both executives (whiteboarding) and engineers (deep technical dives)
- Solid understanding of security, privacy, and compliance considerations in enterprise AI (e.g., data governance, model safety)
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent advanced degrees or equivalent experience also considered
- Mentor and guide engineers from junior to senior levels, fostering technical excellence
- Skilled at presenting complex technical topics at both abstract and implementation levels

Preferred Qualfications

- Experience with Agentic AI/orchestration frameworks (tool use, lifecycle, interoperability)
- Familiarity with LangChain, LLMOps tools, vector search/RAG, retrieval pipelines
- Knowledge of Responsible AI practices, including governance, risk, human-in-the-loop, and auditability in enterprise settings
- Consulting or industry solutions background, with ability to map domain needs to AI architectures
- Recognized technical leadership through publishing, mentoring, or internal standards contributions
- Experience aligning AI/ML with enterprise roadmaps and platforms (e.g., Databricks)
- Open-source contributions or significant personal technical project

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.

Are you being referred to one of our roles If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process