Fast Facts

WGU is seeking a Senior Software Engineer specializing in Site Reliability to mentor teams, lead projects, and enhance system quality in support of higher education access through innovative online solutions.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include mentoring junior engineers, enhancing project delivery, leading cross-functional teams, and managing technical risks while ensuring system reliability and quality.

Skills: Candidates must demonstrate strong software development practices, knowledge of web technologies, and the ability to create effective designs. Strong communication and mentoring skills are essential.

Qualifications: A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field with 6 years of experience in software development is required; a Master's or PhD is preferred, along with experience in Agile/Scrum and web-based technologies.

Location: This position is based in Salt Lake City, United States.

Compensation: $140200 - $217200 / Annually

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 410Pay Range: $140,200.00 - $217,200.00

Job Description

Job Duties

• Acts as an expert in assigned areas of software engineering. Mentors other more junior engineers to be more effective in their role.
• Maintains accountability for quality of services in their assigned area and success of assigned projects for on-time, on-budget, and on-scope delivery.
• Contributes as a lead or consultant for at least one team. May be a ‘go-to’ person in a particular sub-discipline or application area.
• Contributes formally and informally to effectiveness of the team through formal and informal mentoring and direction during team meetings and problem solving.
• Communicates effectively and regularly with other disciplines to identify and resolve problems and contribute to organization success.
• Leads teams or cross-functional groups in identifying and transferring knowledge through formal and informal means (formal presentations, internal white-papers, etc).
• Acts as a planning consultant for team or portfolio when identifying technical risks and dependencies. Identifies potential problems, as well as potential solutions, far in advance and mentors other engineers in risk management.
• Speaks authoritatively and accurately with respect to questions related to their area of ownership or the platform as a whole.
• Contributes directly, and leads others, in rapid identification of system problems minimizing time to restoration of services.
• Assists engineering management in identifying opportunities for improvement within the team, including training, technical feedback, emerging problems, etc.
• Applies strategies and tools to plan and execute testing strategies to find the ‘sweet spot’ that maximizes quality while minimizing costs. Demonstrates the ‘good enough’ principle that balances quality and time to implement.
• Interprets functional, non-functional, and implied requirements into designs and code that meet those specifications. Identifies gaps, risks, and deficiencies in such requirements and proposes solutions. Guides more junior engineers on how to plan and execute on requirements delivery.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

KSAs

• Understanding of the processes associated with software development, including Planning, Measurement, Coding, Testing, Reuse, Tools, Abstraction, Algorithms and Complexity, Security, and basic system understanding.
• Ability to employ the tools and techniques related to an engineering discipline, such as database management, user interface development, inter-process communications, etc.
• Ability to create designs that can be realized in code that achieve functional and non-functional requirements for an application or at the system level. Appropriately uses design patterns, system decomposition, security, and fault tolerance. A demonstrated capability in one or more design methodologies, such as Object-oriented design, Function-oriented design, data centered design and the notations appropriate for each.
• Ability to understand differences, strengths and weaknesses of various Software Development Life Cycle models, and practical considerations of options
• Understands implications of Software as a Service in the creation of software systems. Thinks of and designs for scale, reliability, and cost in a public cloud environment. Uses data and metrics to analyze Key Performance Indicators.
• Ability to explain the basic value of a system and subsystems to users and how the various subsystems inter-operate to provide features. Able to act as a partner with Operations in solving problems at a system level. Knows what the system can and cannot do.
• Ability to demonstrate a sense of urgency when looking for solutions to problems
• Understands the general higher education landscape, particularly with on-line higher education, including competitive landscape, opportunities, and feature gaps.
• Ability to identify innovative ideas or technologies that represent opportunities to advance the capabilities of the university education platform, our efficiencies in improving our platform, or both. Can leverage change management processes to drive adoption.
• Ability to make the team stronger and more cohesive
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage others at the right level at the right time. Communicates effectively in group settings by knowing audience, listening effectively, and being responsive. Presents solutions not just problems and effectively manages expectations.
• Ability to identify, mitigate, or avoid risks and works closely with leads or managers to make sure that such risks and dependencies are understood, accounted, and planned for through an appropriate strategy.

Minimum Qualifications

• 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.
• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree or PhD in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• Experience with IntellliJ/VS Code, JIRA, Git
• Experience with Agile/Scrum Project Development
• Experience with Java or a similar Object-oriented language
• Experience with IDM/OSSO, Hibernate/Seam, Banner
• Experience with Application Integration with legacy systems
• Experience with Cloud-Native Development, and/or Porting/Refactoring of On-Site to Cloud (preferably AWS)
• Experience with J2EE, Java EE, JavaScript, and SQL
• Technical Certifications

Job Description Disclaimer: This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, however management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require.

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 [email protected].

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