Senior Software Development Engineer; US Federal

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.

Your work matters here. At Workday Government, we focus on outcomes that serve a larger mission. Our work supports U.S. federal agencies as they modernize and transform their full employee lifecycle experience and finance operations. You will join a highly motivated, collaborative engineering team that thrives on teamwork, open communication, and shared problem‑solving. Working with modern technologies like Kubernetes, Terraform, and Docker, our goal is to partner closely to build resilient, ultra‑performant systems that our customers can depend on.

In this role, you will lead efforts in troubleshooting complex performance issues, analyzing capacity forecasting needs, and driving cloud cost management and optimization. We are looking for driven engineers who take genuine pride in their craft, value cross‑team collaboration, take ownership of initiatives, and consistently deliver impactful outcomes. The work isn’t theoretical. It’s operational. It’s high‑impact. And it demands technical rigor, strong teamwork, and long‑term thinking.

This role will support one or more direct or indirect contracts with the U.S. Federal Government which, due to federal government security requirements, mandates that all Workday personnel working on the contracts be United States citizens (naturalized or native). Location

Note:

May be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area. Role Overview:
As a Sr. Performance Engineer (Sr. Software Development Engineer), you will play a pivotal role in optimizing Workday’s Kubernetes platform and cloud infrastructure in AWS Gov Cloud. You will lead deep‑divе performance troubleshooting, drive capacity forecasting models, and manage cloud infrastructure cost optimization. By establishing robust performance telemetry and load testing strategies, you will ensure our systems remain fast, scalable, cost‑efficient, and resilient in air‑gapped environments.

You have a growth mindset and thrive in a collaborative, outcome‑driven environment where cross‑team partnership is key. You will be part of a team promoting a diverse and inclusive culture where you and your teammates are energized, engaged, and excited to solve complex engineering challenges together every day.

• Performance Engineering & Troubleshooting:
  Apply deep expertise in distributed systems to diagnose, profile, and resolve complex performance bottlenecks, latency spikes, and resource constraints across Kubernetes workloads in AWS Gov Cloud.
• Capacity Forecasting & Planning:
  Build predictive capacity models, analyze system usage trends, and execute stress and load testing to ensure platforms scale seamlessly under peak federal workloads.
• Cloud Cost Management & Optimization:
  Track cloud resource utilization, right‑size infrastructure, and implement Fin Ops strategies using AWS and Kubernetes tools to optimize infrastructure spend without compromising performance or security.
• Performance Telemetry &…