Principal API Architect/Engineer – API Platform (Python/Typescript)

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 Product Engineering organization builds the product experiences that customers use every day. Our teams design and deliver features that sit on top of Workday’s core platforms and services, and increasingly depend on powerful, well designed APIs to support agentic experiences and AI driven scenarios.
This team focuses on evolving the API surface and supporting mission critical product flows used by Product Engineering for agentic AI use cases. We partner closely with internal Workday teams to design APIs and patterns that are consistent, reliable, and easy to consume. You will shape the API foundation, architecture and operating model that makes it easy for Product Engineering to build agent ready, high quality APIs. If you enjoy building APIs that other engineers and AI agents love to use, you’ll feel at home on this team.

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal‑level API Architect in Product Engineering to lead our API strategy for agentic and integration‑heavy scenarios. You will own the API architecture vision for Product Engineering, set standards (OpenAPI, patterns, error models, observability), and partner with engineering leaders to make them real.

In this role, you will:

• Act as the “Chief API Architect” for Product Engineering.

• Define and evolve the API architecture, standards, and review processes that guide how Product Engineering teams design and deliver APIs.

• Partner with product and platform leaders to shape the operating model, including API champions across product pillars and a clear intake/prioritization path for API needs.

What you’ll do

• Define the API architecture and governance model for Product Engineering, spanning REST, GraphQL, SOAP, and emerging integration models used by Workday agents and products.

• Establish and maintain API standards:

  • OpenAPI contract guidelines, review and approval process.

  • Resource modeling, naming and pagination conventions.

  • Authentication/authorization and multi‑tenant patterns.

  • Error handling, retry semantics, and idempotency guidelines.

  • Versioning and deprecation policies.

• Partner with Product Engineering leaders and “API champions” in each product area to:

  • Shape their API roadmaps.

  • Identify gaps or duplication.

  • Drive convergence on shared patterns and building blocks.

• Define reference architectures and patterns for:

  • Agent‑ready APIs and orchestration patterns used by the Agent Factory.

  • Data‑centric APIs, including how Product Engineering safely exposes data via Data Cloud / SQL projections.

  • Latency and observability standards across the end‑to‑end request path.

• Lead critical cross‑team API design reviews and act as the tie‑breaker on contentious or high‑impact design decisions.

• Work closely with platform partners (Gateways, Trident, Web Service Frameworks, Core Services, Data Cloud, AI/Agent Factory) to ensure Product Engineering’s needs are represented and that platform capabilities are consistently applied.

• Shape and help run a single, transparent intake and prioritization process for key Product Engineering API investments.

• Evaluate build/borrow/buy options for tools that help Product Engineering design, test, and operate APIs (including contract testing, catalogs, MCP/Data Cloud connectors, and developer tooling).

• Mentor senior engineers and managers on API architecture, distributed systems, and integration best practices; build communities of practice across Product Engineering.

• Communicate the API vision and status to senior stakeholders and help influence product and resourcing decisions.

About You

Basic Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience building large‑scale, mission‑critical backend systems and APIs.

• 5+ years in a senior architecture, engineering or staff‑plus role with responsibility for cross‑team or organization‑wide API/platform architecture.

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience using TypeScript or Python to build web services and APIs (Ex: REST, SOAP, GraphQL, JSON, XML, WSDL, Swagger/OpenAPI)

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline or equivalent practical experience.

Other Qualifications

• Understanding of the MCP protocol specification and architecture

• Proven track record of setting and driving technical standards that scale across multiple teams.

• Able to prototype reference implementations and dive into code reviews when needed

• Experience leveraging AI‑assisted code generation and review tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) to improve development speed and quality.

• Strong expertise in distributed systems and cloud architectures, including high‑throughput, low‑latency services, horizontal scaling, and fault‑tolerant design.

• Extensive experience with edge and gateway patterns (routing, auth, throttling, rate limiting, transformation, multi‑tenant concerns).

• Demonstrated leadership in API governance: standards definition, contract review, documentation, and lifecycle management.

• Experience designing or evolving observability for APIs (metrics, tracing, logging) and using that data to define and monitor SLOs.

• Familiarity with agentic AI use cases and patterns for integrating LLMs/agents with enterprise APIs

• Experience with data platforms and analytical stores (such as Data Cloud or equivalent) and designing APIs that expose data safely and efficiently.

• Ability to collaborate and influence across Product Engineering, platform teams, and business stakeholders.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to articulate complex technical topics in simple, compelling terms.

• Passion for growing others: mentoring staff‑level engineers, supporting managers, and building a strong API culture within Product Engineering.

• Growth mindset and comfort working in evolving spaces where the operating model is still being defined.

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.CA.Pleasanton

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $206,400 USD - $309,600 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $173,300 USD - $309,600 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.

At Workday, we are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive hiring experience where all candidates can fully demonstrate their skills. If you require assistance or an accommodation at any point, please email [email protected].

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