Senior Application Architect

Western Union; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Life Insurance

401K plan

Tuition Assistance Program

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Western Union is seeking a Staff Software Engineer on the Retail Engineering team to design, develop, and deliver end-to-end applications using Java Spring Boot microservices and Angular across backend services and front-end experiences.

You will lead technical solutions, mentor engineers, and collaborate with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to ensure secure, scalable APIs for Western Union’s global money movement ecosystem. The role is HYBRID with office presence required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent work experience.
• 6+ years of professional experience; 8+ years preferred for Staff level.
• 5+ years delivering RESTful APIs with versioning and contracts.
• 2+ years with AWS cloud services and cloud-native design.
• 6+ years in Java/Spring Boot and production-grade API support.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical team leader for API platform, owning architecture decisions.
• Design and implement scalable, resilient solutions balancing short-term delivery with long-term sustainability.
• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Drive engineering excellence through best practices in design, testing (TDD), security, and performance.
• Mentor senior and mid-level engineers to grow system thinking and ownership.
• Identify opportunities to improve scalability, reliability, and developer experience.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

RESTful APIs

TDD

AWS

Leadership/Mentoring

Code Reviews

Education

Bachelor’s in Computer Science or related field

Master’s degree (optional)

Tools

Angular

Job description

Position location: Austin, TX

Western Union is seeking a Staff Software Engineer on the Retail Engineering team. Responsible for end-to-end application design, development, and delivery across both backend services and front-end experiences. You will design, build, and evolve high-performance, mission-critical applications using Java Spring Boot microservices and Angular micro frontend patterns. In this role, you will lead technical solutions, mentor engineers, and drive technology modernization across the full stack.

You will work closely with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to deliver secure, scalable, and highly available APIs supporting Western Union’s global money movement ecosystem.

Role Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical team leader and subject-matter expert for the API platform, owning architecture and design decisions for complex systems and services.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, resilient solutions, balancing short-term delivery needs with long-term platform sustainability.
• Partner closely with Product, Architecture, Security, and Operations to translate business requirements into high-quality technical solutions.
• Drive engineering excellence by defining and enforcing best practices around system design, testing (including TDD), security, performance, and operational readiness.
• Provide hands-on guidance through design reviews, code reviews, and technical deep dives, raising overall code quality and consistency.
• Act as a technical mentor to senior and mid-level engineers, supporting growth in system thinking, ownership, and problem solving.
• Influence platform direction by identifying opportunities to improve scalability, reliability, developer experience, and cost efficiency.
• Serve as a key escalation point for complex production issues, contributing to root cause analysis and long-term corrective actions.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure alignment with enterprise standards while enabling teams to deliver efficiently and independently.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and drive root-cause analysis.
• Communication and collaboration, with the ability to influence technical decisions.
• Evaluate business and product requirements and translate them into scalable, resilient technical solutions.
• Partnering with Product Managers to shape solutions, clarify requirements, and prioritize work.

Role Requirements

• Bachelor’s in computer science or related fields with 8+ years of professional experience or master’s with 6+ years of experience. Equivalent work experience.
• 6+ years in Java and Spring Boot, with experience building and supporting production-grade APIs. Implementing and leveraging caching frameworks to improve system performance and scalability
• 5+ years designing and delivering RESTful APIs, including API contracts, versioning, and backward compatibility.
• 5+ years hands-on experience with Test-Driven Development (TDD) and automated testing practices.
• 2+ years of experience with AWS cloud services and cloud-native application design. Understanding of non-functional requirements, including scalability, performance, reliability, security, and availability.
• 2+ years of experience leading technical design and code reviews and enforcing engineering best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and modern DevOps practices.
• Experience operating systems in high-availability and high-throughput environments.
• Familiarity with API gateways, authentication, and authorization frameworks.
• Experience defining or contributing to platform-level standards and reusable components.
• Prior experience working on enterprise-scale or integration platforms.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Western Union will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

Work Shift

HYBRID - Western Union values in-person collaboration, problem solving, and ideation whenever possible. We believe this fosters common ways of working and supports how we execute initiatives for our customers. The expectation is to work from the office a minimum of three days a week.

Benefits

You will also have access to short-term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance, and access to best-in-class development platforms, to name a few (https://careers.westernunion.com/global-benefits/). Please see the location-specific benefits below.

Your United States – Specific Benefits Include

• Paid Time Off
• Medical, Dental and Life Insurance
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Student Loan Repayment (below manager level only)
• Parental Leave
• One day volunteer time off
• $0 Money Transfer Fee Discount Code - Quarterly
• Recognition Program Game Changers
• Employee Discount Program
• Global Adoption Assistance
• Global Scholarship Awards Program
• 401K plan

For residents of Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania: Please do not respond to any questions on this initial application that may seek age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You may also redact this information from any materials you submit during the application process. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Salary

Annual base salary range is $140,000 - 165,000 USD per year. Total on-target compensation includes a base salary and short-term that align with individual and company performance. Actual salaries will vary based on candidates’ qualifications, skills, and competencies.

We are passionate about honoring our employee's identity and fostering a feeling of belonging. Our commitment is to provide an inclusive culture that celebrates the unique backgrounds and perspectives of our global teams while reflecting the communities we serve. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws.

Estimated Job Posting End Date:

08-31-2026

This application window is a good-faith estimate of the time that this posting will remain open. This posting will be promptly updated if the deadline is extended or the role is filled.