Principal Engineer - Workforce Technology; UKG

Principal Software Engineer

Car Max is modernizing the workforce technology systems that serve thousands of associates nationwide. We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to own the strategy, architecture, and evolution of our UKG Pro Workforce Management (WFM) platform — and the integrations that connect it to our broader HR ecosystem.

This is a high-impact, senior-level role. You'll drive architectural decisions, shape engineering practice, and build solutions that span systems, teams, and business functions. You should be comfortable operating at both a strategic and hands-on level — leading what's next, not just maintaining what exists.

Architecture & Solution Design

• Lead enterprise-level solution design across UKG Pro WFM — with a focus on scalability, resiliency, and long-term sustainability.
• Design and implement solutions across core UKG modules:
  Timekeeping, Accruals, Attendance, Forecasting, and Advanced Scheduling.
• Drive the evolution of our integration strategy from Dell Boomi toward API-first, abstraction layer patterns — reducing platform dependency and improving maintainability across the HR ecosystem.
• Ability to define integration requirements for middleware, with enough cloud fluency (Azure preferred) to partner with Platform Engineering
• Ensure every solution is designed with the full HR ecosystem in mind — not scoped to a single platform.

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the technical authority for Workforce Technology — influencing platform direction and cross-team standards.
• Mentor engineers and elevate team capability through code review, documentation, and direct coaching.
• Champion SDLC discipline, change management rigor, and engineering best practices across the team.
• Lead evaluation and adoption of new tools, platform capabilities, and technologies.

Partnership & Delivery

• Partner closely with HR, business operations, and technology teams to translate requirements into scalable solutions.
• Create clear technical documentation that enables maintainability, knowledge sharing, and onboarding.
• Establish feedback loops with end users and frontline associates to continuously identify pain points, validate solutions, and drive iterative improvements that make day-to-day work faster and easier.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Decision Science, Engineering, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent alternative education, skills, and/or practical experience is required and 7+ years of relevant work experience or
• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Decision Science, Engineering, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent alternative education, skills, and/or practical experience is required and 5+ years of relevant work experience

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on experience with UKG Pro WFM and/or Kronos platforms.
• Deep experience configuring and supporting:
  Timekeeping, Accruals, Attendance, Advanced Scheduling, and Forecasting.
• Experience designing or leading a migration toward API-first or abstraction layer integration patterns — decoupling systems from point-to-point dependencies.
• Strong understanding of enterprise integration architecture — including middleware, abstraction layers, event-driven APIs, and cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred).
• Experience integrating UKG with broader HR systems such as Workday and payroll platforms.
• Familiarity with data platforms such as Google Big Query or similar.

Nice to Have

• Experience across multiple HR technology platforms — not just UKG.
• Background designing solutions in hybrid environments (cloud + enterprise systems).
• Experience evaluating or selecting technology platforms — not just implementing them.
• Familiarity with time clock or workforce hardware integrations.
• Strong documentation habits that scale knowledge across teams.

Work Location and Arrangement:
This role will be based out of the Richmond Midtown or Plano Tech hub and have a Hybrid work arrangement.

• Associates based in Richmond work on-site 4 days per week.
• Associates based in Plano work onsite 2 days per week

Work Authorization:
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Sponsorship will not be considered for this specific role.