Sr Director, Data Science & Machine Learning

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 Enterprise Data and AI Technologies & Architecture (EDATA) organization is a dynamic and evolving team that is spearheading Workday’s growth through trusted data excellence, innovation, and architectural thought leadership. Equipped with an array of skills in data & AI platforms and architecture, data science, engineering, machine learning and AI strategy & product management, this team orchestrates the flow of data across our growing company while ensuring data accessibility, accuracy, and security. With a relentless focus on innovation and efficiency, Workmates in EDATA enable the transformation of complex data sets into actionable insights that fuel strategic decisions and position Workday at the forefront of the technology industry.

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary and pragmatic Sr. Director of Data Science & Machine Learning to lead our high-impact AI strategy and execution. This is a "builder-leader" role responsible for bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and production-grade software and operations. The Sr. Director will lead a team of Data Scientists, ML Engineers (MLEs), MLOps Professionals, and Full-Stack Engineers. The team will drive our data products from traditional predictive analytics into a modern, Agentic AI-driven ecosystem.

 

Job Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership: Define the North Star for AI/ML initiatives, ensuring alignment with overarching business goals.

• Multi-Disciplinary Management: Lead and mentor a diverse team of 15+ professionals across data science, engineering, and operations.

• GenAI & Agentic Frameworks: Architect and oversee the deployment of LLM-based applications using RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and Agentic workflows.

• Innovation Lab: Rapidly prototype new features using emerging tools (Hugging Face, Gemini, Claude) while maintaining a path to scalable production.

• Product-Led AI Strategy: Work closely with Product Management to embed predictive insights and Agentic AI directly into custom solutions.

• LLM Orchestration & Evaluation: Lead the implementation of Agentic workflows using solutions such as LangGraph and Flowise, ensuring reliability through rigorous evaluation frameworks like LangSmith.

• Cost Management (FinOps): Optimize the cost of AI features by balancing the use of frontier models (Claude 3.5, Gemini 1.5) with smaller, fine-tuned open-source models via Hugging Face.

• Stakeholder Influence: Act as a bilingual translator between complex technical architectures and executive-level business value.

About You

Basic Qualifications:

• 10+ years of professional experience across Data Science, AI and ML within an enterprise environment.

• 5+ years of professional experience within a senior leadership role.

• Extensive experience moving Generative AI models from "notebook" to "production." Deep understanding of prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and agentic orchestration.

• Experience with Snowflake, Databricks, AWS, GCP, H2O, Tecton, Hugging Face, Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Flowise, LangChain, LangGraph, LangSmith and other commercial and open source models and frameworks.

• Experience with modern data stack patterns (Lakehouse, Data Mesh) and the specific challenges of MLOps (drift detection, latency, cost management).

• Understanding of how ML models integrate with front-end applications via APIs (FastAPI, React).

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.

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: CAN.ON.Toronto

Primary CAN Base Pay Range: $247,000 - $370,400 CAD

Additional CAN Location(s) Base Pay Range: $247,000 - $370,400 CAD

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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