Manager, People Systems Engineering

Smartsheet

. Own the technical strategy and long-term architecture for the People technology ecosystem across Workday, Docebo, Greenhouse, integrations, employee data, automation, AI, and emerging capabilities .

Posted 9/17/2026full-timeRemote • United StatesSeniorLead💰 $122,000 - $175,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in defining and executing technical strategies for People technology ecosystems, with a strong focus on Workday architecture, data management, and automation. Proven ability to lead technical teams, implement modern software engineering practices, and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Workday ArchitectureTechnical Strategy DevelopmentPeople Systems Engineering LeadershipAPI-First Ecosystem DesignModern Software Engineering Practices

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Hard Skills

Enterprise Application EngineeringSystems ArchitectureData ArchitectureAutomation StrategyIntegration DesignTesting StrategyCI/CD PracticesObservabilitySecurity and Data ProtectionAI Capabilities

Soft Skills

Analytical SkillsVerbal CommunicationWritten CommunicationTeam LeadershipMentoring

Tools & Technologies

WorkdayDoceboGreenhouseWorkday StudioWorkday ExtendWorkday APIsCloud PlatformsEvent-Driven ArchitecturesAI/Agent PlatformsModern Automation Frameworks

Industry Keywords

HR TechnologyEmployee Data ManagementIntegration EngineeringSaaS ConfigurationData Governance

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cloud

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own the technical strategy and long-term architecture for the People technology ecosystem across Workday, Docebo, Greenhouse, integrations, employee data, automation, AI, and emerging capabilities
Lead, coach, and develop the People Systems Engineering team
Serve as technical leader for Workday and ensure it remains well architected, maintainable, secure, scalable, and appropriately leveraged
Partner with the Product Manager for People Systems to translate employee and business problems into product and technical strategies and roadmaps
Evaluate the People technology landscape and simplify, consolidate, redesign, automate, or eliminate processes
Define architectural boundaries across People platforms, APIs, integrations, custom applications, automation, and AI
Develop the technical strategy for People data, including sources, models, boundaries, contracts, quality, lineage, access, and lifecycle management
Drive an API-first and event-driven People Systems ecosystem
Define AI and agentification strategy for employee technology
Establish automation across recruiting, onboarding, employee changes, compensation, learning, talent, and offboarding
Introduce software engineering practices including source control, peer review, CI/CD, environment management, observability, reusable components, documentation, and disciplined releases
Establish automated testing strategy and improve observability across workflows, integrations, scheduled processes, and data flows
Define engineering standards for Workday configuration and extensibility
Own technical health, architectural debt, fragile integrations, customization, obsolete processes, and operational issues
Partner with Integration Engineering, AI & Automation, Data, Identity, Security, and other engineering teams
Evaluate emerging technologies and guide experimentation toward production
Balance roadmap delivery with modernization, reliability, security, sustainability, and technical debt reduction
Establish architecture reviews, technical standards, and engineering metrics
Communicate technical strategy, architecture decisions, investment needs, risks, and tradeoffs to stakeholders and senior leadership
Recruit, onboard, mentor, and develop engineers

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience
8+ years of experience across enterprise application engineering, software engineering, HR technology, systems architecture, or related technical disciplines
2+ years of experience managing or formally leading technical teams
Strong hands-on technical understanding of Workday, including architecture, data model, security model, business processes, integrations, reporting, and extensibility
Experience defining technical strategy or architecture
Strong systems thinking across applications, integrations, APIs, data, identity, automation, infrastructure, and employee experiences
Experience determining boundaries between SaaS configuration, platform extensibility, integrations, automation, and custom software development
Experience designing or evolving enterprise data architecture, including systems of record, data models, interfaces, data contracts, quality, governance, and downstream consumption
Experience introducing modern software engineering practices into enterprise SaaS or business systems environments
Experience with testing strategy and automation, CI/CD, observability, release engineering, or similar practices
Understanding of modern AI capabilities and practical applications of agents, LLMs, and intelligent automation
Experience partnering with Product Managers on product strategy, customer needs, technical strategy, roadmaps, and investment decisions
Ability to challenge legacy processes and architectures and develop pragmatic modernization strategies
Ability to operate across strategic architecture and detailed technical discussions
Strong understanding of security, privacy, access control, auditability, and data protection for sensitive employee data
Excellent analytical, verbal, and written communication skills
Experience with adjacent People platforms such as Docebo, Greenhouse, or similar technologies is a plus
Experience with Workday Studio, Workday Extend, Workday APIs, cloud platforms, event-driven architectures, AI/agent platforms, or modern automation frameworks is a strong plus

Benefits

Comp & perks

Employer subsidized medical/vision and dental coverage for full-time employees
401k Match (50% of your contribution up to the first 6% of your eligible pay)
Monthly stipend to support your work and productivity
Flexible Time Away Program, plus Sick Time Off
Smartsheet-sponsored life insurance, short-term, and long-term disability plans
12 paid holidays per year
Up to 24 weeks of Parental Leave
Personal paid Volunteer Day
Opportunities for professional growth and development, including access to Udemy online courses
Company Funded Perks, including a counseling membership, local retail discounts, and your own personal Smartsheet account
Teleworking options from any registered location in the U.S. (role specific)
Market competitive incentive opportunity