Senior SaaS Architect & Hands-On Developer

Nelnet, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

HSA or FSA

401K matching

Job summary

Nelnet, Inc. (CampusGuard) is seeking a Principal Software Architect & Developer to define technical direction, design scalable SaaS platforms, and lead critical initiatives across multiple U.S. locations.

The role combines hands-on coding with strategic architecture, in a collaborative hybrid team environment. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in software engineering and architecture, experience delivering SaaS platforms, and familiarity with AI-assisted coding, security, and accessibility

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or 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.
• Experience with 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 applications and design a scalable SaaS platform architecture.
• 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 stack, including core platform components.
• Write clean, well-tested code and participate in reviews and troubleshooting.
• Define DevSecOps processes, including CI/CD pipelines for deployment.
• Collaborate with Product Owner and System Owner on solution design and lead complex initiatives.
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development while maintaining quality and security.
• Coordinate with offshore teams to ensure release readiness and architectural consistency.
• Collaborate with security/compliance teams to meet frameworks such as NIST, TX-RAMP, and HECVAT.

Skills

React

Angular

Java/Spring Boot

C#

.NET

Firebase

Node.js

Python

RESTful APIs

Data modeling

GitHub

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Nelnet, Inc. (CampusGuard) is seeking a Principal Software Architect & Developer to define technical direction, design scalable SaaS platforms, and lead critical initiatives across multiple U.S. locations.

The role combines hands-on coding with strategic architecture, in a collaborative hybrid team environment. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in software engineering and architecture, experience delivering SaaS platforms, and familiarity with AI-assisted coding, security, and accessibility