Sr Manager, Software Development Engineering - Agentic & Semantic System

Workday Workday · Enterprise · Vancouver, BC

Workday is seeking a Sr. Manager, Software Development Engineering to lead the engineering efforts for a unified platform enabling internal and external agents to interact with the Workday Data Cloud. This role involves building and coaching a team, executing the product roadmap, and ensuring the delivery of mission-critical capabilities. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in leading software development teams and delivering Machine Learning systems, with a focus on agent frameworks and semantic layers.

What you'd actually do

  1. lead the engineering efforts to bootstrap a unified platform that enables internal and external agents to interact seamlessly with the Workday Data Cloud through a robust semantic layer and MCP server framework.
  2. building and coaching a high-performing team of engineers
  3. building and executing the product roadmap
  4. ensuring the delivery of mission-critical capabilities that meet rigorous functional and quality requirements on schedule.
  5. move fast through ambiguity while fostering a culture of innovation to accelerate agent development and deliver frictionless data discovery and processing experiences.

Skills

Required

  • 5+ years experience leading and developing software development engineering teams, including 2+ years managing other development managers.
  • 10+ years experience in software development engineering, defining, implementing, and evolving development processes, tools, and strategies for high-quality software delivery.
  • Expert in at least one of the following areas: Machine Learning or Data Science, familiar with Agent frameworks and design patterns.
  • Expert in at least one of the following areas: MCP protocol and server technologies
  • Expert in at least one of the following areas: 5+ years hands on experience delivering Semantic engine or BI, familiar with Semantic Modeling, Knowledge Representations, and BI frameworks.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline; Master's degree preferred or equivalent practical experience.
  • Strong understanding of Decision Making processes in managing complex engineering teams and strategic initiatives.
  • Developing strong Influencing Skills to drive technical direction and organizational alignment.
  • Solid understanding of People Management principles for leading large software development organizations and fostering a high-performance culture.
  • Strong Understanding of Requirements and the ability to ensure alignment and execution across multiple teams.

Nice to have

  • Visionary Leadership
  • Strategic Delivery
  • Team Growth
  • Innovation Under Ambiguity
  • Collaborative Impact
  • 2+ years managing other development managers
  • familiar with Agent frameworks and design patterns
  • familiar with Semantic Modeling, Knowledge Representations, and BI frameworks
  • Scala
  • Python
  • PyTorch
  • LangChain

What the JD emphasized

  • 5+ years hands on experience delivering Machine Learning systems from experimentation, implementation, validation and monitoring.
  • Machine Learning or Data Science, familiar with Agent frameworks and design patterns.
  • 5+ years hands on experience delivering Semantic engine or BI, familiar with Semantic Modeling, Knowledge Representations, and BI frameworks.
  • Understanding of development lifecycles for projects utilizing programming languages and frameworks like Scala, Python, PyTorch, LangChain, etc.
  • Support the team in navigating the evolving landscape of Agentic AI, fostering an environment where engineers can rapidly prototype, debug, ship and iterate on solutions.

Other signals

  • building a unified platform for agents
  • accelerate agent development
  • friction-less experience for agents to interact with federated data sources
  • hands on experience delivering Machine Learning systems