Principal Software Engineer

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

17d•Remote

About The Position

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 412 Pay Range: $180,300.00 - $279,500.00 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.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field
12+ 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)

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

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