Lead System Engineer

Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Employment Type: Regular

Who you are

We are looking for a Lead Systems Engineer to join the People Planning Platform Solutions team within Group Digital. As a member of the Design Authority team you will help shape the architecture, standards and technical direction of our workforce management landscape, ensuring solutions are scalable, integrated and aligned with IKEA's People priorities.

You bring a strong combination of Workforce Management domain expertise, solution architecture experience and a deep understanding of how people data flows across the broader HR ecosystem. You are comfortable working across business and technology teams, providing technical leadership and guidance across platforms such as UKG Pro WFM, Legion and related People solutions.

We would love to talk with you if you:
Have extensive experience with Workforce Management and People Planning solutions in large enterprise environments.
Have strong knowledge of platforms such as UKG Pro WFM (Dimensions), Legion, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors or similar HR technology solutions.
Understand the end-to-end People technology landscape from Core HCM through Workforce Management, Time & Attendance, Scheduling, Payroll and Reporting.
Have experience designing and governing integrations across complex SaaS ecosystems.
Possess hands-on experience with integration technologies such as Boomi, Workato, APIs, event-driven integrations and middleware platforms.
Can assess impacts across upstream and downstream systems and drive solutions with an end-to-end mindset.
Enjoy establishing architecture principles, standards and guardrails that enable teams to deliver consistent and high-quality solutions.
Are comfortable influencing design decisions, reviewing solution proposals and collaborating across engineering, product, HR, payroll and vendor teams.
Take ownership and independently drive initiatives from concept through adoption.
Are passionate about simplifying complexity and enabling scalable and sustainable solutions.

What You'll Bring
Proven experience in Solution Architecture, Systems Engineering or Platform Engineering.
Deep expertise in Workforce Management processes including forecasting, scheduling, time & attendance, labor planning and payroll integration.
Strong understanding of enterprise integration patterns and HR data flows.
Experience working across multi-vendor SaaS ecosystems and managing technical dependencies between platforms.
Hands-on experience with integration and automation platforms such as Boomi, Workato or similar middleware technologies.
Ability to define solution standards, architecture roadmaps and governance processes while maintaining a pragmatic delivery focus.
Experience partnering with vendors and implementation partners to ensure long-term platform sustainability and business value.
Ability to evaluate solutions from an end-to-end perspective across the entire Hire-to-Retire and Plan-to-Pay value chain.

A day in your life with us

As a Lead Systems Engineer and member of the Design Authority team you will:
Provide architecture guidance and solution governance across IKEA's People Planning technology landscape.
Partner with product teams and engineers to shape solution designs across UKG Pro WFM, Legion and related People platforms.
Ensure scalable and reliable end-to-end processes spanning Core HCM, Workforce Management, Time & Attendance, Scheduling and Payroll.
Drive alignment on architecture standards, integration patterns and technology roadmaps across the platform ecosystem.
Review solution designs and provide recommendations that balance business value, technical quality, operational supportability and long-term sustainability.
Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineers, Architects, HR stakeholders, Payroll teams and vendors to deliver integrated solutions.
Identify opportunities for standardization, simplification and reuse across platforms and processes.
Contribute to the evolution of the People Planning technology strategy and future-state architecture.

The ideal candidate combines:
Workforce Management domain expertise
HR Technology experience
Solution Architecture and Design Authority experience
Integration and middleware knowledge (Boomi, Workato and APIs)
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
The ability to see the bigger picture across the entire Hire-to-Retire and Plan-to-Pay value chain
This role is particularly suited for someone who has worked as a UKG Solution Architect, WFM Architect, HRIS Architect, Integration Architect or People Technology Lead and who can provide both technical and functional leadership across the People Planning ecosystem while contributing to a broader Design Authority practice.

Beyond delivery, we expect you to:
Take initiative and drive solutions forward independently
Create a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement
Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing across teams
Focus on real business value — not just delivery
Continuously improve processes and ways of working
Ensure solutions are trusted, relevant, and actively used

Together as a team

We’re the ones who make it possible for people to have a smarter life at home and a hassle-free and rewarding shopping experience. Together we work to find new digital solutions for every business need to help make IKEA a great and efficient place to work. We like to think of ourselves as innovative and modern, and we believe that nothing would actually work without us.