Senior Application Developer

University of Iowa; Iowa City (IA); Remote; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Remote-friendly work options

Health plan

Job summary

The University of Iowa ITS is seeking an experienced Senior Application Developer to design, develop, and support IAM related applications. You will contribute as a productive individual contributor while mentoring peers and guiding technical direction across APIs, data pipelines, and front‑end web apps used by accounts, security, and identity operations.

This role emphasizes collaboration, security, and end‑to‑end delivery in a remote‑first team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years building large web apps and guiding security efforts.
• Strong knowledge of C#, Java, Python, and/or JavaScript (C# preferred).
• Experience with web-based frameworks, protocols, and REST APIs.
• Relational database experience (SQL).
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to analyze systems and solve complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Lead major projects from requirements capture through to shipping.
• Mentor junior developers and guide peers in technical decisions.
• Design, develop, and support IAM applications and APIs.
• Perform AI-assisted security audits and vulnerability detection.
• Collaborate with Health Care enterprise on account lifecycles in mission-critical environments.

Skills

Web application development

Security principles

RESTful APIs

CI/CD practices

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

C#

Java

Python

JavaScript

Job description

Information Technology Services (ITS) at the University of Iowa is seeking an experienced software developer to design, develop, and support applications on our Identity and Access Management (IAM) team. As a Senior Application Developer, this role will serve as a productive individual contributor to our team while providing mentorship and technical guidance to peers. Our team develops APIs, event-driven data pipelines, and modern front-end web applications, all in support of account, security, and identity operations at the University of Iowa and University of Iowa Health Care.

About us

• We're a remote-first development shop, and we will be for the foreseeable future.
• We know IAM inside and out and deploy a best-in-class mix of our own software augmented with vended or open-source capabilities.
• We prioritize end-user experience above all. Security policy should be sharp, and ideally invisible, if we've done our jobs right.
• Our work isn't always visible, but our services undergird all missions of the university.
• Our code impacts hundreds of thousands of individuals every day.

About you

• You're curious, collaborative, and collegial.
• You've owned the delivery of major projects from requirements capture through to shipping.
• You've built the cross-organization relationships required to get things done, irrespective of your positional authority.
• You know your way around modern tools like Claude or Codex, and exercise the discernment, judgement, and taste required to drive them responsibly.
• You've put in the work and can show us your successes.

In a typical week, responsibilities might include

• Leading a high-visibility project to implement passkeys and other phishing-resistant credentials throughout our environment.
• Performing an AI-assisted security audit of our codebase, verifying and prioritizing fixes to stay ahead of adversaries; then operationalizing ongoing vulnerability detection.
• Mentoring a junior developer and contributing to their professional growth.
• Collaborating with our peers in the Health Care enterprise, providing technical advice and direction on account lifecycles in a mission-critical environment.

There is an expectation that the individual in this position will maintain effective, civil, and respectful working relationships with the University of Iowa campus community and uphold the University's commitment to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for all.

The University of Iowa offers a generous benefits package, including 24 days paid vacation per year, paid sick leave, and a high-quality health plan with extensive coverage. Complete information regarding the full benefits package may be viewed at https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits.

This position is not eligible for University sponsorship for employment authorization.

ITS values work-life balance and strives to provide flexible work options where possible. This position is eligible for on-site, hybrid, or remote work arrangements within the state of Iowa, and will require a work arrangement form to be completed upon the start of employment. Per policy, work arrangements will be reviewed annually, and must comply with the remote work program and related policies and employee travel policy when working at a remote location. Please note that you will be joining what is currently a 100% remote team.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a field relevant to the position, or an equivalent combination of education and additional related experience.
• Extensive experience (typically 5 years or more) developing large web applications and providing technical direction on security efforts.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with modern development languages such as C#, Java, Python, and/or JavaScript (C# preferred).
• Extensive knowledge of modern security issues and defensive programming techniques.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with web-based frameworks, protocols, and tools.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with RESTful web APIs.
• Extensive relational database experience (SQL).
• Knowledge of software development best practices (such as source control, issue tracking, prototyping, testing CI/CD, etc.)
• Excellent verbal and written communication, collaboration, and customer-relations skills.
• Ability to apply critical thinking, technical problem solving, and system analysis skills to a variety of domains.

Desirable Qualifications

• Extensive experience developing in C# and .NET.
• Extensive experience working with modern credentials and authenticators (passkeys, mobile ID cards, user-issued certificates, and hardware authenticators such as YubiKeys).
• Extensive experience performing security analysis of mature codebases and prioritizing hardening efforts.
• Experience using AI-assisted development platforms (Claude or Codex preferred) to augment your own capabilities responsibly and effectively.
• Familiarity with modern UI/UX best practices.
• Demonstrated experience in mentoring colleagues on software development.
• Understanding of modern cryptography and its application to accounts and credentialing.
• Understanding of distributed systems, message queuing, and event-driven architectures.
• Experience contributing to a collaborative, communicative remote team.
• Demonstrated strong organizational and personal project management skills.

Additional Information

• Classification Title: Senior Application Developer
• Appointment Type: Professional and Scientific
• Schedule: Full-time
• Work Modality Options: On Campus, Hybrid within Iowa, Remote within Iowa

Compensation

• Pay Level: 5B

Contact Information

• Organization: Information Technology Services
• Contact Name: Melanie Bell
• Contact Email: [e-mail]