Senior Software Engineer

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

1d•Onsite

About The Position

WGU is hiring a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and evolve platforms that support students and internal teams. The role contributes to WGU’s mission and student outcomes by delivering scalable, reliable technology for online education and career development. The engineer will provide technical leadership, advise within an experienced engineering organization, mentor other engineers, and help introduce AI-first development practices. The position involves researching, designing, developing, testing, implementing, and supporting software applications and systems. The engineer leads delivery while remaining accountable for quality, scope, timelines, and outcomes, and partners with engineering, product, and operations teams to improve systems and achieve business outcomes. This is a full-time, regular, in-office position based in WGU’s Salt Lake City, Utah office, requiring five days per week onsite. It requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including company summits, conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. WGU will consider qualified candidates who require current or future employment visa sponsorship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience as determined by the hiring manager.
At least 6 years of software development experience, including experience pioneering new approaches and technologies in engineering.
Experience developing web-based applications and web services using Java, REST, ServiceNow, and other web technologies.
Experience interfacing with databases and integrating third-party products with existing infrastructure.
Strong backend engineering experience and expertise building scalable software solutions.
Demonstrated experience mentoring engineers and contributing to highly collaborative teams.
Strong communication skills, emotional intelligence, curiosity, and ability to collaborate effectively across diverse audiences and teams.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
Experience with IntelliJ, VS Code, Jira, Git, Agile/Scrum development, JavaScript, SQL, J2EE, or Java EE.
Experience with cloud-native development, AWS, AI-assisted development tools such as Claude or Kiro, application integration, legacy system modernization, or relevant technical certifications.

Responsibilities

Research, design, develop, test, implement, and support software applications and systems.
Lead delivery of software solutions and maintain accountability for quality, scope, timelines, and outcomes.
Mentor engineers through technical guidance, code reviews, architecture discussions, and problem solving.
Translate functional and non-functional requirements into scalable, maintainable software solutions.
Identify technical risks, dependencies, and opportunities early, and help teams develop mitigation strategies.
Partner with engineering, product, and operations teams to improve systems and drive business outcomes.
Use AI-assisted development tools and modern engineering practices to accelerate innovation and delivery.
Provide technical leadership and help define and adopt AI-first engineering practices.
Attend company summits and team events as needed, and travel to conferences, company locations, and business-related meetings when required.