Staff Software Engineer

Western Governors University; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 161,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Wellbeing program

Tuition discounts

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

Western Governors University seeks a Staff Software Engineer to drive architecture and engineering best practices across the platform. You will lead critical initiatives, mentor teams, and shape scalable, reliable systems.

You will oversee ML/AI integration, LLM tooling, and platform-wide improvements, partnering with product and operations to deliver high-impact solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• 10 years of experience in software development; pioneering new approaches and technologies in engineering
• Experience in web-based applications and web services such as Java, REST, SQL, GIT, and other technologies, including experience integrating third‑party products
• Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education degree requirements
• Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.

Responsibilities

• Act as an expert in multiple areas of software engineering.
• Maintain accountability for the quality of services across teams for on‑time, on‑budget, on‑scope delivery.
• Lead or consult for domain areas or multiple teams.
• Mentor and guide problem solving within teams.
• Identify and mitigate risks and dependencies for projects.
• Improve operational excellence and platform availability.

Skills

Expertise across software engineering

Communication

Mentorship

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's in CS/IT/Related

Master/PhD preferred

Tools

Java

REST

SQL

GIT

Spring/Spring Boot

AWS

Job description

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 411 Pay Range: $161,000.00 - $249,500.00

Job Description The Staff Software Engineer is a position of technical expertise, influence, and leadership in the technology realm. The position will be required to apply their expert knowledge to ensure best practices and well-engineered architecture across the department. They will also be a key stakeholder and initiator of major changes to processes, engineering practices, and system administration. This position will be required to work in a space of solving critical issues and initiatives across multiple teams. It will require an extensive and deep understanding of cutting-edge practices and innovative approaches to problems. Principal Software Engineers are also tasked with establishing and maintaining a positive and productive culture based on the WGU Leadership Principles.

Job Duties

• Acts as an expert in multiple areas of software engineering.
• Maintains accountability for the quality of services in multiple areas and teams for the success of the assigned project for on-time, on-budget, and on-scope delivery.
• Contributes as a lead or consultant for their domain area or multiple teams.
• Is a ‘go-to’ person in at least one sub-discipline and competent and trusted in several other disciplines or application areas.
• Contributes formally and informally to the effectiveness of teams through formal and informal mentoring and direction during team meetings and problem solving.
• Contributes and often identifies systemic issues to be solved and contributes to the resolution of the same.
• Actively ensures that engineering has the skill sets they need to be successful with current and future technologies.
• Acts as a planning consultant for Portfolio or Ed Tech as a whole when identifying technical risks and dependencies.
• Identifies problems far in advance, finds multiple solutions, and recommends the preferred solution to teams and to management.
• Speaks authoritatively and accurately with respect to questions related to their area of ownership or for the platform as a whole.
• Actively improves operational excellence measured by availability of the platform to students, faculty, and staff.
• Applies strategies and tools to plan and execute testing strategies to find the ‘sweet spot’ that maximizes quality while minimizing costs.
• Demonstrates the ‘good enough’ principle that balances quality and time to implement.
• Understands implications of functional and non-functional requirements on the system.
• Identifies deficiencies in requirements and works with product owners to provide alternatives.
• Machine Learning & Intelligent Systems: Define the architecture, development, and deployment of machine learning, LLM, and intelligent systems at scale, from research and experimentation through production implementation.
• LLM & AI Platform Architecture: Define how LLMs, generative AI, agents, and intelligent systems are integrated into the core platform architecture to ensure scalability, extensibility, security, and operational robustness.
• Technical Vision & Innovation: Identify emerging technologies, research trends, and industry best practices and translate them into practical innovations that strengthen the platform and create new capabilities.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

KSAs

Expert understanding of the processes associated with software development, including Planning, Measurement, Coding, Testing, Reuse, Tools, Abstraction, Algorithms and Complexity, Security, and basic system understanding. Ability to employ the tools and techniques related to an engineering discipline, such as database management, user interface development, inter-process communication, etc. Ability to create designs that can be realized in code that achieve functional and non-functional requirements of the system. Appropriately uses design patterns, system decomposition, security, and fault tolerance. A demonstrated capability in one or more design methodologies, such as Object-oriented design, Function-oriented design, data-centered design and the notations appropriate for each. Ability to understand differences, strengths, and weaknesses of various Software Development Life Cycle models, and practical considerations of options Understands implications of Software as a Service in the creation of software systems. Thinks of and designs for scale, reliability, and cost in a public cloud environment. Uses data and metrics to analyze Key Performance Indicators. Ability to explain the basic value of a system and subsystems to users and how the various subsystems interoperate to provide features. Able to act as a partner with Operations in solving platform problems at a system level. Knows what the system can and cannot do. Ability to demonstrate a sense of urgency when looking for solutions to problems Understands the general higher education landscape, particularly with online higher education, including competitive landscape, opportunities, and feature gaps. Ability to identify innovative ideas or technologies that represent opportunities to advance the capabilities of the university education platform, our efficiencies in improving out platform, or both. Can leverage change management processes to drive adoption. Ability to make the team stronger and more cohesive Strong communication skills with the ability to engage others at the right level at the right time. Communicates effectively in group settings by knowing the audience, listening effectively, and being responsive. Presents solutions, not just problems, and effectively manages expectations. Ability to identify, mitigate, or avoid risks and work closely with leads or managers to make sure that such risks and dependencies are understood, accounted for, and planned for through an appropriate strategy.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• 10 years of experience in software development; pioneering new approaches and technologies in engineering
• Experience in web-based applications and web services such as Java, REST, SQL, GIT, and other technologies, including experience integrating third‑party products
• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.
• Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree or PhD in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• Technical experience in any of the following: GIT, SQL, Spring, Spring Boot, Java, Angular 2 or later, and AWS Services
• Experience with Salesforce development lifecycle techniques and Salesforce governor limits
• Experience with cloud-based telephony, CTI, SIP/VoIP phones and protocols, QoS, IVRs, and call recording
• Experience architecting, implementing, and managing enterprise-level contact center solutions
• Deep experience in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, LLMs, or intelligent systems, with demonstrated ability to take ML/AI systems into production.
• Strong understanding of LLM architectures, model serving, inference, evaluation, orchestration, and integration of AI capabilities into production platforms.
• Experience with Responsible AI, including AI safety, privacy, security, governance, and risk management.
• A strong passion for innovation, technical excellence, mentorship, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Experience with distance education and distance learning students

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Job Description Disclaimer

This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position; however, management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require.

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

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

Additional Information Disclaimer

The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

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.

In 1997, a coalition of 19 U.S. governors founded Western Governors University with a singular vision: to make higher education more accessible by offering full degree programs online. Starting small, we quickly expanded. Today, we’re one of the largest accredited online universities in the U.S.