Sr. Engineering Manager: HR Technology (Hybrid - Seattle, WA)

Job Description

Nordstrom’s People Technology organization is evolving rapidly, and we need a Senior Engineering Manager who can lead at scale across complex HR and Legal technology platforms. This role manages a team of Engineers, responsible for delivering and operating the Workday HCM / WFM platform, Cornerstone (Learning), and the integration ecosystem that connects them to Nordstrom’s enterprise architecture.

As Senior Manager, you will own a portfolio of platforms, not just a single product. You will set engineering direction, build team capability including the evolving use of AI technologies, drive hiring, and serve as the senior technical voice for HR and Legal systems across Nordstrom Technology. You will partner closely with Product, Program, HR Business Partners, Legal Operations, and Senior Leadership to ensure the systems your team owns power Nordstrom’s workforce with reliability, security, and operational excellence.

Platforms & Scope of Ownership

Workday HCM Platform

Workday configuration engineering: business process configuration, tenant management, security, reporting (BIRT, Prism Analytics)

Integration engineering: Workday Studio, EIB, Core Connector, Cloud Connect, PECI/PICOF, REST/SOAP APIs

Workday Extend custom application development (WXO) and Workday Prism Analytics

HCM modules: Core HCM, Absence, Compensation, Talent, Recruiting, Payroll integrations

Integration & Automation Engineering

Lead the integration engineering function connecting HR/Legal platforms to enterprise systems

Govern middleware, API strategy, and event-driven integration patterns (Kafka, REST, SOAP)

Drive automation initiatives across configuration, deployment, and operational workflows

Maintain integration health monitoring, MTTR standards, and incident response frameworks

You will define and drive the AI and automation strategy across HR and Legal technology platforms, reshaping team dynamics toward AI-augmented delivery models and building engineering fluency in agentic workflows, LLM integration, and intelligent automation so your team are builders of AI-enabled HR systems, not just consumers of vendor-delivered features.

Cornerstone - Learning & Development Platform

Oversee engineering support for Cornerstone OnDemand (Learning Management System)

Manage integrations between Cornerstone and Workday HCM for talent and learning data flows

A Day in the Life

Lead and develop a team of Engineers; conduct regular 1:1s, set performance goals, and build development plans

Establish and communicate engineering roadmap across Workday HCM, Cornerstone, and integration platforms in alignment with Director and business stakeholders

Remove blockers and escalate risks across multiple concurrent workstreams operating in a DevOps model

Drive architectural decisions for integration, automation, and platform evolution, balancing speed, cost, and technical debt

Partner with HR, Legal, and Finance business leaders to translate operational needs into engineering priorities

Represent the HR Technology engineering team in leadership forums, program reviews, and cross-functional planning

Own team hiring: define roles, lead structured interview loops, make recommendations, and onboard new leaders and engineers

Govern operational excellence: define SLAs/SLOs, lead incident reviews, maintain platform reliability standards

Apply continuous improvement principles across team delivery, flow metrics, OKRs, retrospectives, and shortened feedback loops

Ensure team compliance with Nordstrom engineering standards, data governance, and security requirements

Maintain staffing models across Integration, Configuration, Analysis, and Legal Engineering disciplines

Define and drive the AI and automation strategy across HR and Legal technology platforms, reshaping team dynamics toward AI-augmented delivery models and building

You Own This If You Have

Leadership & Management

5+ years leading engineering teams, including 2+ years managing Engineering Managers or team leads

Demonstrated ability to build, retain, and grow high-performing engineering teams across multiple disciplines

Track record of hiring for technical roles; experience with structured interviewing and competency-based evaluation

Experience managing organizational change, team restructuring, and capacity planning

Technical Depth - HR Systems

5+ years hands-on experience with Workday HCM configuration, integration engineering, or platform development

Proficiency with Workday Studio, EIB, Core Connector, PECI/PICOF, and Workday Extend (WXO)

Understanding of Workday business processes, security roles, tenant configuration, and reporting (BIRT, Prism Analytics)

Experience with HR data models, payroll integration patterns, and HCM module configuration (Core HCM, Absence, Compensation, Talent, Recruiting)

Technical Depth – AI-Augmented Engineering Delivery

You have hands-on experience delivering software in an AI-augmented engineering environment, knowing where AI accelerates (code generation, test automation, integration scaffolding) and where it introduces risk (hallucinated logic, security exposure, over-reliance without review discipline).

You write effective prompts for engineering contexts, decomposing complex platform problems into discrete, well-scoped AI tasks, and you hold your team to the same standard.

You have working knowledge of agentic workflow patterns: chaining LLM calls, tool use, RAG, and orchestration frameworks, and can identify where these apply inside HR and Legal technology contexts.

You lead teams through the skill shift this requires, moving engineers toward prompt-driven development, AI-assisted code review, and human-in-the-loop validation, and you define the guardrails explicitly rather than leaving them to individual judgment

Technical Depth - Integrations & Platforms

Integration architecture experience: REST, SOAP, event-driven patterns, API management

Experience with streaming and middleware technologies (Kafka, MuleSoft, or equivalent) is strongly preferred

Cloud platform experience, AWS or equivalent, including observability, CI/CD, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes)

Exposure to modern tech stacks: Java/.NET Core for services, Python for automation/batch, JavaScript/React for frontends

Program & Delivery

Proven ability to manage multi-workstream delivery in an agile DevOps environment

Experience defining and tracking OKRs, flow metrics, and engineering KPIs at the team level

Skilled at risk identification, escalation, and communication across leadership and business stakeholder audiences

Experience owning and operating business-critical, always-on enterprise systems with clear SLA accountability

Education

BA/BS in Computer Science, Information Systems, or closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Pay Range Details

The pay range(s) below has been provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different for other locations.

Pay offers are dependent on the location, as well as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

$191,000.00 - $297,000.00 Annual

We’ve got you covered…

Our employees are our most important asset and that’s reflected in our benefits. Nordstrom is proud to offer a variety of benefits to support employees and their families, including:

Medical/Vision, Dental, Retirement and Paid Time Away

Life Insurance and Disability

Merchandise Discount and EAP Resources

This position may be eligible for performance-based incentives/bonuses. Benefits include 401k, medical/vision/dental/life/disability insurance options, PTO accruals, Holidays, and more. Eligibility requirements may apply based on location, job level, classification, and length of employment. Learn more in the Nordstrom Benefits Overview by copying and pasting the following URL into your browser: https://careers.nordstrom.com/pdfs/Ben_Overview_17-19.pdf

A few more important points...

The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, responsibilities and qualifications for this job.

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