[Hiring] Manager, People Systems Engineering @Smartsheet

Role Description

As Manager, People Systems Engineering, you will lead the engineering team responsible for Smartsheet’s People technology ecosystem and define the long-term technical strategy for how employee technology evolves. Workday is a critical foundation of this ecosystem, but this role extends beyond operating individual applications: you will shape the architecture, engineering practices, data strategy, automation, and emerging AI capabilities that connect our People platforms into a cohesive technology ecosystem.

You will be expected to challenge existing approaches and identify opportunities to fundamentally improve how employee technology works:

• Simplifying processes
• Reducing manual administration
• Improving employee and manager experiences
• Strengthening data and system architecture
• Determining where configuration, software engineering, automation, or AI can provide better solutions

You Will:

• Own the technical strategy and long-term architecture for the People technology ecosystem.
• Lead, coach, and develop the engineering team responsible for Smartsheet’s People platforms.
• Serve as a technical leader for Workday.
• Partner with the Product Manager for People Systems to translate employee and business problems into product and technical strategies.
• Continually evaluate the People technology landscape.
• Define architectural boundaries across People platforms.
• Develop the technical strategy for People data.
• Drive the evolution of People Systems toward an API-first and event-driven ecosystem.
• Define an AI and agentification strategy for employee technology.
• Identify opportunities to move employee interactions toward simpler, intelligent experiences.
• Establish a deliberate automation strategy across the employee lifecycle.
• Introduce stronger software engineering practices into the People technology stack.
• Establish a strategy for automated testing across People Systems.
• Define engineering standards for Workday configuration and extensibility.
• Improve observability across critical employee workflows.
• Own the technical health of the People Systems portfolio.
• Partner with other engineering teams to ensure People technology operates as part of a coherent enterprise architecture.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and platform capabilities.
• Balance roadmap delivery with architectural modernization.
• Establish architecture reviews, technical standards, and engineering metrics.
• Communicate technical strategy, architecture decisions, investment needs, risks, and tradeoffs clearly.
• Recruit, onboard, mentor, and develop engineers.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Demonstrated experience defining technical strategy or architecture.
• Strong systems thinking and the ability to reason across applications.
• Experience determining appropriate boundaries between SaaS configuration, platform extensibility, integrations, automation, and custom software development.
• Experience designing or evolving enterprise data architecture.
• Experience introducing modern software engineering practices into enterprise SaaS or business systems environments.
• Experience with testing strategy and automation, CI/CD, observability, release engineering.
• Understanding of modern AI capabilities.
• Experience partnering with Product Managers.
• Demonstrated ability to challenge legacy processes and architectures constructively.
• Ability to operate across both strategic architecture and detailed technical discussions.
• Strong understanding of security, privacy, access control, auditability, and data protection considerations.
• 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

• Employer subsidized medical/vision and dental coverage for full-time employees.
• 401k Match to help you save for your future (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.
• US employees are automatically covered under Smartsheet-sponsored life insurance, short-term, and long-term disability plans.
• US employees receive 12 paid holidays per year.
• Up to 24 weeks of Parental Leave.
• Personal paid Volunteer Day to support our community.
• 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).
• Smartsheet provides a competitive base salary range for roles that may be hired in different geographic areas.

Company Description

At Smartsheet, your ideas are heard, your potential is supported, and your contributions have real impact. You’ll have the freedom to explore, push boundaries, and grow beyond your role. We welcome diverse perspectives and nontraditional paths—because we know that impact comes from individuals who care deeply and challenge thoughtfully.

When you’re doing work that stretches you, excites you, and connects you to something bigger, that’s magic at work. Let’s build what’s next, together.