Senior Software Engineer

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Technical 410

Pay Range: $143,700.00 - $222,700.00

Job Description

The Senior Software Engineer is responsible for the research, design, development, analysis, testing, and implementation of software operating or application systems. They communicate project information to client, project manager, or other design personnel working on projects. They maintain good working relationships with clients and staff. They write and maintains complete documentation. They support team members and ensures established goals and deadlines are met. They keep management informed of status and significant problems.

 

Ready to make a meaningful impact through technology? As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll bring deep technical expertise, strong engineering judgment, and a collaborative mindset to building and improving scalable software solutions. You’ll serve as a technical leader and mentor while partnering across teams to solve complex problems, manage technical risk, and strengthen the systems that support the university education platform.

What You’ll Do

• Serve as a technical expert and trusted resource in assigned areas of software engineering, mentoring junior engineers and helping the team grow its capabilities.
• Lead or consult for engineering teams, translating functional, non-functional, and implied requirements into thoughtful designs and high-quality code.
• Take accountability for service quality and successful project delivery, balancing scope, budget, timelines, reliability, and cost.
• Identify technical risks, dependencies, gaps, and potential solutions early, while helping other engineers strengthen their approach to risk management.
• Partner effectively across engineering, Operations, and other disciplines to troubleshoot complex system issues, minimize time to restore services, and improve system performance.
• Share technical knowledge through mentoring, presentations, documentation, and collaborative problem-solving while helping identify opportunities for team improvement.
• Design and execute pragmatic testing strategies that balance quality, delivery speed, cost, security, scale, reliability, and fault tolerance.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• 6 years of experience in software development; pioneering new approaches and technologies in engineering.
• Experience in web-based applications and web services using Java, REST, ServiceNow, and other web technologies, including experience interfacing with databases, and integrating third party products with existing infrastructure.
• Experience with relational databases such as Oracle, MySQL, and Aurora, along with non-SQL databases.
• Strong understanding of software development practices, including planning, coding, testing, security, algorithms and complexity, abstraction, reuse, and software development lifecycle models.
• Experience designing scalable, reliable, and cost-conscious software systems, including SaaS and public cloud environments.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and technical leadership skills, with the ability to identify risks, propose solutions, mentor others, and collaborate effectively across teams.

Bonus Points

• Master’s Degree or PhD in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• Experience with IntelliJ/VS Code, JIRA, Git, Agile/Scrum development, Java or a similar object-oriented language, J2EE, Java EE, JavaScript, and SQL.
• Experience with IDM/OSSO, Hibernate/Seam, Banner, legacy-system integration, cloud-native development, or porting/refactoring on-site applications to the cloud, preferably AWS, and/or relevant technical certifications.

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

What to Expect

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to show their best work through meaningful conversations and collaboration.

We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission.

• Introductory call with a Talent partner
• Technical interview
• Hiring leader interview
• Stakeholder Interview

Work Location

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City, UT office, designed to foster the collaboration and connection that fuel our best work.

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Travel Requirement

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

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Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.