Principal API Architect, Product Engineering – Agent‑Ready APIs & Data

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

Product Engineering builds the end to end product experiences that Workday customers use. Many of these experiences are now powered by agents and AI, which depend on a strong API foundation.

This role sits in Product Engineering but operates across product pillars. You will work closely with Product Engineering teams as well as partner organizations. You will shape the API foundation, architecture and operating model that makes it easy for Product Engineering to build agent ready, high quality APIs.

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 or staff‑plus role with responsib