user avatar

Principal Cloud Engineer - US Federal

Workday, Inc.

Posted today

Job Requirements

Reston, VA
Top Secret/SCI Polygraph
Mid Level Career (5+ yrs experience)
$191,500 - $287,300

Job Description

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
Workday’s Public Cloud Infrastructure Team is a diverse group of software developers, cloud engineers & site reliability engineers (SREs) who work together to ensure our cloud infrastructure is secure, scalable, and highly available. We focus on enabling Workday's growth in the public cloud by crafting, deploying and maintaining fully automated, resilient and scalable infrastructure-as-a-service. We constantly strive to streamline processes and reduce manual effort, allowing us to focus on delivering innovative solutions that drive business value. Our team is constantly exploring new technologies and methodologies to improve our processes and systems.
If you're passionate about cloud infrastructure, automation, and are looking for a dynamic multi-cloud work environment, then Workday is the place for you.

About the Role

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).

This role may require a security clearance at the TS/SCI w/CI Poly level. Applicants must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance. An active TS/SCI w/CI Poly is preferred.

May be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area.

As the Principal Cloud Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in guiding Workday’s cloud adoption strategy and leading the technical aspects of our transition to the Public Cloud. In this critical technical leadership position, you will have the opportunity to shape and implement cloud best practices, develop innovative solutions, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the successful migration of our applications and infrastructure to the chosen cloud platform. You will use Infrastructure-as-code and automation to make continuous improvements to how the team maintains the infrastructure and services they own.

Responsibilities:

Cloud Strategy and Architecture:

  • Develop a comprehensive cloud strategy aligned with the company's objectives, leveraging Public Cloud.

  • Design cloud-based solutions and architectures that meet security, scalability, reliability, and performance requirements.


Cloud Migration and Deployment:

  • Lead the migration of existing on-premises infrastructure and applications to the public cloud.

  • Collaborate with application teams to assess and plan the cloud readiness of their services.

  • Automate deployment processes, ensuring consistency and efficiency in cloud resource provisioning.


Cloud Governance and Security:

  • Establish cloud governance policies, guidelines, and best practices to maintain compliance and optimize resource usage.

  • Implement robust security measures to safeguard sensitive data and ensure alignment with industry standards and regulations.


Performance and Cost Management:

  • Continuously monitor and optimize cloud resources to improve performance and cost-effectiveness.

  • Identify cost-saving opportunities and recommend solutions to optimize cloud spending.


Technical Leadership and Mentorship:

  • Provide technical guidance and mentorship to a growing team of cloud engineers.

  • Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning within the team.


Vendor Management and Collaboration:

  • Collaborate with cloud service providers and other third-party vendors to tap into their expertise and tools effectively.


About You

Basic Qualifications

  • US CITIZENSHIP IS REQUIRED

  • 5+ years of hands-on experience with one or more of the following public cloud providers: AWS or, GCP

  • 5+ years of experience in one of the following functional languages: Ruby, Go, or Python

  • 5+ years experience delivering Infrastructure-as-code using Terraform or Ansible.


Other Qualifications

  • Preferred DoD 8570/8140 compliant with at least IAT Level Il certification, including a current Computing Environment (CE) credential and one approved specialty certification (e.g., CompTIA CySA+, GICSP, CASP+)

  • 10+ years of Software Engineering experience.

  • 7+ years experience with Linux operating systems

  • Expertise with building solutions in the Public Cloud (AWS or GCP) to meet scalability and reliability needs of web-scale applications.

  • Experience designing CI/CD pipelines (GIT, ArgoCD, etc.) pipelines for adhering to Infrastructure-as-code standard processes

  • Experience with communication protocols, restful services, service-oriented architecture, distributed systems, and microservices.

  • Proven track record of successfully leading cloud transformation initiatives for large-scale enterprises.

  • Strong understanding of cloud architecture, standard methodologies, and security principles.

  • Proficiency in infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.

  • Expertise in containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and microservices architecture.


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.VA.Reston

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $191,500 USD - $287,300 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $173,300 USD - $309,600 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.

At Workday, we are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive hiring experience where all candidates can fully demonstrate their skills. If you require assistance or an accommodation at any point, please email accommodations@workday.com.

Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process!

At Workday, we value our candidates’ privacy and data security.  Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers. 

Please be aware of sites that may ask for you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.

In addition, Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.

Similar Jobs (5)


Principal Cloud IAM Engineer (US Federal)


remote typeOnsite

locationsUSA.VA.Reston

time typeFull Time

posted onPosted 30+ Days Ago


Principal Cloud Security Engineer, Identity & Access (IAM)


remote typeFlex

locationsUSA.VA.Reston

time typeFull Time

posted onPosted 2 Days Ago


Principal Cyber Security Engineer US Federal


remote typeFlex

locationsUSA.VA.Reston

time typeFull Time

posted onPosted 30+ Days Ago

View All 5 Jobs

🌟 Join Our Talent Community here!

Stay connected with Workday:

  • Get the latest news & content

  • Be first to hear about new roles

  • Never miss an opportunity


Read More

🔗 Useful Links

🌐 Career Site
💡 Benefits
🌟 Join Our Talent Community
📰 Workday Life Blog
🤝 Inclusion and Belonging
📄 Application and Interview Tips
🎓 Early Careers / Internships
📋Contractor Job Site

Read More

🎥 Find Out More About Workday

👩‍💻 Engineering, but brighter.

💼 Sales, but brighter.

🤝 CX & Consulting, but brighter.

✨ Interested in other areas?

Visit our Career Site here.

Equal Opportunity Workplace

Read more below to learn more on our stance on being a proud equal opportunity workplace, pay transparency and accommodation support.

Workday is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Workday are considered without regards to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Further, pursuant to applicable local ordinances, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We do not accept resumes from headhunters, placement agencies, or other suppliers that have not signed a formal agreement with us.

You may view the Workday's Pay Transparency Policy, and Know Your Rights Notice, by clicking on their corresponding links.

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 accommodation, 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.

Read More

Follow Us

Recruitment Privacy Statement

© 2026 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved.

group id: 501386132
job ad image
Find Workday, Inc. on Social Media
Recruiters
user avatar
About Us
Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, helping customers adapt and thrive in a changing world. Workday applications for financial management, human resources, planning, spend management, and analytics are built with artificial intelligence and machine learning at the core to help organizations around the world embrace the future of work. Workday is used by more than 10,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 50% of the Fortune 500.

Workday, Inc. Jobs


Job Category
IT - Hardware
Clearance Level
Top Secret/SCI