Senior/Principal Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

About the role

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 Role

As a Senior or Principal Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll bridge hands-on software development with high-impact customer technical strategy - taking on the most complex, ambiguous engagements where no existing playbook applies. You will partner with enterprise customers, often at the executive level, to architect, deploy, debug, and optimize Workday's AI agents and developer platform solutions inside live customer environments.

You'll work across the full deployment lifecycle alongside AI Deployment Architects, Product Managers, and Workday Services leads. Beyond delivering for individual customers, you'll help set the technical direction for the FDE practice itself: turning field-tested solutions into scalable product capabilities and mentoring other engineers along the way.

What you'll do

• Technical Deployment & Engineering: Architect, deploy, configure, and debug AI agents and integrations inside the most complex live enterprise tenant environments, frequently in situations with no established precedent.
• Customer Discovery & Solution Architecture: Lead technical discovery sessions with senior leaders at customer organizations, translating ambiguous business requirements into robust product configurations, POCs, and integration specs.
• Product Feedback & Influence: Synthesize field telemetry, edge-case failures, and recurring customer friction into insights that directly shape the product roadmap and engineering backlog.
• Productization of Field Insights: Identify patterns across many engagements and lead the work of turning custom fixes into standardized, automated, out-of-the-box product capabilities.
• Cross-Functional & Executive Alignment: Act as a trusted technical advisor to Workday Services leads, AI Deployment Architects, Account Teams, and customer executives, keeping every engagement focused on core product strength.
• Engagement Leadership & Mentorship: Own the most strategically important or technically complex engagements end-to-end - from kickoff through graduation - within standard 6-month deployment cycles, while coaching other FDEs on technical approach and customer engagement.

Basic Qualifications (Senior)

• 7+ years of experience in Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Technical Consulting, or Software Development
• Hands-on coding and debugging skills (for example, Python, Java, or similar), with knowledge of REST APIs, object-oriented design, and integration patterns
• Knowledge of Workday, including business processes, security and permissions, tenant configuration, integrations, and how customers implement and govern Workday
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 20% to customer sites as needed

Basic Qualifications (Principal)

• 10+ years of experience in Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Technical Consulting, or Software Development
• Hands-on coding and debugging skills (for example, Python, Java, or similar), with knowledge of REST APIs, object-oriented design, system architecture, and integration patterns.

Pay and benefits

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

Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton

Primary Location Base Pay Range

$176,000 USD - $264,000 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range

$148,200 USD - $264,000 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.

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.

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

At Workday, we value our candidates' privacy and data security. Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers.

Please be aware of sites that may ask for you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.

In addition, Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.