FDE pods deploy directly into active customer engagements to resolve technical friction, debug complex setups, and build lightweight integrations. Crucially, FDEs serve as the primary feedback engine for Product and Engineering: field insights, recurring customer friction, and configuration patterns are converted directly into scalable, out-of-the-box product capabilities.
About the Role
As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, you will bridge hands-on software development with high-impact customer technical strategy. You will partner with enterprise customers to architect, deploy, debug, and optimize Workday’s AI agents and developer platform solutions within live customer environments.
Working across the full deployment lifecycle, you will collaborate with AI Deployment Architects, Product Managers, and Workday Services leads. Your primary objective is twofold: drive immediate customer success and eliminate implementation friction over time by embedding field-tested solutions back into the core platform.
What you'll do
Technical Deployment & Engineering: Deploy, configure, and debug AI agents and integrations directly inside live enterprise tenant environments against complex customer workflows and real-world data.
Customer Discovery & Solution Architecture: Lead technical discovery sessions with key customer stakeholders to translate complex business requirements into robust product configurations, POCs, and integration specs.
Product Feedback Loop: Capture field telemetry, edge-case failures, and customer friction points to directly influence the core product roadmap and engineering backlog.
Productization of Field Insights: Identify recurring deployment challenges and transform custom fixes into standardized, automated out-of-the-box product capabilities.
Cross-Functional Ecosystem Alignment: Partner closely with Workday Services leads, AI Deployment Architects, and Account Teams to ensure seamless project delivery while staying focused on core product strength.
Engagement Milestones & Graduation: Guide engagements through structured milestones—from kickoff to graduation—enabling self-sustaining customer ownership within standard 6-month deployment cycles.
About You
Basic Qualifications
Experience: 7+ years in Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Technical Consulting, or Software Development.
Technical Execution: Hands-on coding and debugging skills (e.g., Python, Java, or similar) with solid understanding of REST APIs, object-oriented design, system architecture, and integration patterns.
Customer Interaction: Proven experience working directly with enterprise clients on complex software deployments, live data troubleshooting, and custom workflow integration.
Travel: Willingness and ability to travel up to 20% to customer sites as needed.
Workday Pay Transparency Statement
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 click here.
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.
Pursuant to applicable Fair Chance law, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law.
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.
If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email accommodations@workday.com, as far in advance as possible.
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