Lead SaaS Platform Architect & Hands-On Developer

Nelnet; Lincoln (NE); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

HSA / FSA

401K / employer match

Student loan repayment

Life insurance & AD&D

Employee assistance program

Stock purchase program

Tuition reimbursement

Performance-based incentive pay

Short- & long-term disability

Wellness program

Job summary

Nelnet's CampusGuard unit seeks a working architect to guide the platform’s technical direction, write production code, and own architecture end-to-end. The role blends design, development, and security oversight in a collaborative, small-team setting with hybrid work options.

Ideal candidates will own architectural decisions through delivery, lead SaaS projects, and navigate modern tech stacks while leveraging AI-assisted coding tools. Visa sponsorship is not provided.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience.
• 5+ years of architecture or technical leadership experience, including owning architectural decisions through implementation and deployment.
• Experience leading SaaS platform development.
• Strong modern application development experience, including experience using AI-assisted coding tools.
• Working knowledge of digital accessibility standards (WCAG, ADA, Section 508).

Responsibilities

• Define the long-term architecture vision for CampusGuard's web application(s) and design a scalable SaaS platform architecture supporting future growth.
• Lead technology evaluations and architecture decisions; define development standards and engineering practices.
• Create API, integration, reporting, and security architecture, and establish long-term modernization roadmaps.
• Design and develop production software across the application stack, including critical platform components and shared services.
• Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code, and participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and technical troubleshooting.
• Define DevSecOps processes, including CI/CD pipelines for building and deploying applications.
• Collaborate with the Product Owner and System Owner on solution design and lead implementation of complex technical initiatives.
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development, while maintaining high code quality, security, and accuracy.
• Coordinate with development team and QA resources, including offshore teams, to execute platform enhancements, testing, and release readiness.
• Collaborate with security and compliance teams to meet frameworks and complete assessments such as NIST, TX-RAMP, and HECVAT.
• Incorporate secure-by-design principles, including authentication/authorization frameworks, logging, monitoring, and audit trails.

Skills

React

Angular

Java/Spring Boot

C#/.NET

Python

Cloud Platforms

RESTful APIs

AI-assisted coding

Security (OWASP)

Architectural leadership

Education

Bachelors in CS or related field

Tools

GCP

Azure

AWS

Firebase

GitHub

Job description

Nelnet's CampusGuard unit seeks a working architect to guide the platform’s technical direction, write production code, and own architecture end-to-end. The role blends design, development, and security oversight in a collaborative, small-team setting with hybrid work options.

Ideal candidates will own architectural decisions through delivery, lead SaaS projects, and navigate modern tech stacks while leveraging AI-assisted coding tools. Visa sponsorship is not provided.