Principal Software Engineer

Western Governors University; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible paid time off

Health savings accounts

Discounted tuition

11 paid holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

Western Governors University is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to act as the primary technical leader. You will define technical strategies and improve the student experience through Agile practices and cloud-native architectures. The role demands extensive experience in building production-grade software across various environments.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and over 10 years in software engineering, possessing strong expertise in AI-assisted development and mentoring engineering teams.

The position offers full-time hours, eligible for bonuses and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive software engineering experience.
• Experience operating in large-scale enterprise IT organizations.
• Track record of delivering production software.

Responsibilities

• Define technical strategy and improve student experience.
• Lead Agile delivery practices.
• Design scalable cloud-native architectures.
• Mentor engineers on modern engineering practices.

Skills

AI-assisted development

Cloud-native architecture

Agile methodologies

Technical mentorship

Web applications using Java

REST APIs

SQL

Git

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

Kafka

Spring Boot

Kubernetes

Dynatrace

MuleSoft

Job description

Job Description

The Principal Software Engineer is the primary technical leader of the department. This is a practitioner who ships production software, earns credibility through results, and sets the standard others follow. The Principal works inside the systems they influence, understands their limitations from firsthand experience, and translates that into action that resolves problems rather than merely identifying them.

This role demands expertise in AI-assisted development, agentic engineering, cloud-native architecture, and platform thinking. The Principal evaluates every technical decision through the build, buy, borrow, or bot lens, understanding what is fiscally responsible, operationally sustainable, and fastest to value.

The Principal holds the trust of engineering teams, product partners, and executive leadership. They influence through example: building prototypes, delivering working software, and taking ownership when critical issues arise. This person must be fluent in business fundamentals (P&L, cost of delay, unit economics) and connect engineering decisions to business results. The ideal candidate brings a track record of delivering at scale within large enterprise environments, ideally across more than one industry vertical. They maintain a culture of accountability, velocity, and quality grounded in the WGU Leadership Principles. Success in this role is defined by delivery: what ships, what improves, and what problems get solved.

Job Duties

• Partner with engineering and product leadership to define technical strategy and delivery roadmaps that improve the student experience at scale

• Build and ship production-grade software while establishing engineering standards others follow

• Lead Agile delivery practices that balance rigorous planning with rapid execution and predictable outcomes

• Design and evolve cloud-native architectures with strong emphasis on scalability, observability, reliability, security, and operational supportability

• Evaluate technical decisions through a build, buy, borrow, or bot lens with focus on speed-to-value, sustainability, and fiscal responsibility

• Mentor engineers on modern software engineering practices, AI-assisted development workflows, and emerging technologies

• Prototype new tools, frameworks, and architectural patterns through proof-of-value initiatives

• Drive engineering excellence across multiple teams by establishing repeatable delivery patterns and operational standards

• Partner closely with infrastructure, cloud, security, architecture, and product teams as a peer technical leader

• Identify architectural inefficiencies and technical debt, proposing practical and cost-effective solutions grounded in data

• Communicate technical strategy, dependencies, tradeoffs, and risks clearly to executive leadership

• Support operational readiness, incident response, and day‑2 supportability across enterprise systems

• Lead through accountability, urgency, ownership, and attention to detail

• Participate in critical operational events and provide leadership during high‑impact incidents when needed

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field

• 10+ years of progressive software engineering experience including architecture, delivery leadership, and technical mentorship across multiple teams

• Experience building and operating web applications using Java, REST APIs, SQL, and Git in enterprise environments

• Experience designing and delivering system integrations with third‑party and internal platforms

• Track record in large‑scale enterprise IT organizations with established operational processes

• Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education (1 year experience per 1 year education, at hiring manager discretion)

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

• Experience with Kafka/Confluent and integration middleware (Apache Camel, MuleSoft, or similar)

• Hands‑on AWS experience: ECS/EKS, Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, Terraform

• Spring Boot, Kubernetes, and container orchestration in production

• Observability stacks (Dynatrace, Datadog, or similar) including custom metrics and SLO management

• Familiarity with AI/ML platforms, LLM integration, and agentic frameworks

• Higher education, EdTech, or regulated industry experience

• ITIL v4 Foundation or higher; AWS Solutions Architect or CKA certification

• Experience across multiple industry verticals

Why Join WGU

At WGU, you'll help shape technology that directly impacts student success at national scale. You'll join an organization that values innovation, accountability, engineering excellence, and mission‑driven work. This role offers the opportunity to influence enterprise architecture, modernize delivery practices, and help define how AI‑enabled software engineering evolves within a leading online university.

Disclaimer

This position description outlines the primary duties, responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions of the role. Management reserves the right to modify responsibilities as needed to meet organizational needs.

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.

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including attendance at designated company summits, typically one to two times per year.

Accommodations

Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].

Equal Employment Opportunity

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