Senior Software Engineer | Developer Experience
About The Position
Western Governors University is seeking a Senior Backend-Focused Full Stack Software Engineer to design and scale internal systems, developer platforms, and automation that improve how software is built, tested, deployed, and operated. The role focuses on backend services and APIs using Java and Python, with an emphasis on developer experience, internal tooling, and platform capabilities. The engineer will help create and maintain CI/CD automation, service scaffolding, developer portals, observability systems, internal APIs, and shared platform services that improve engineering velocity, reliability, and consistency. The position partners with platform engineers, DevOps, product teams, and frontend engineers, and includes technical design leadership, mentoring, and supporting the reliability of internal engineering systems. WGU describes its mission as expanding access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs. This is a full-time, regular position classified for 40 standard weekly hours and eligible for bonuses and a comprehensive benefits package. The position offers a flexible work environment. WGU does not provide visa sponsorship for this role.
Requirements
- At least 5 years of professional software engineering experience.
- Strong backend development experience with Java and Python.
- Experience building internal tools, platforms, or developer-facing systems.
- Experience with Spring Boot, FastAPI, Flask, Django, or similar frameworks.
- Solid understanding of distributed systems and service-oriented architecture.
- Experience building APIs and automation services at scale.
- Familiarity with frontend integration using Angular and TypeScript.
- Experience with CI/CD systems and software delivery pipelines.
- Strong understanding of cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Experience with Docker and Kubernetes in production environments.
- Experience working with relational and NoSQL databases.
- Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and systems thinking skills.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to work across engineering teams.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in platform engineering, developer experience, or internal developer tooling teams.
- Experience with event-driven systems and message queues.
- Experience building developer portals or internal self-service platforms.
- Familiarity with GraphQL and API gateway architectures.
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform.
- Strong knowledge of observability tooling, including metrics, logging, and tracing.
- Experience improving build systems, test automation, or release engineering.
- Experience supporting large-scale engineering organizations or monorepo environments.
- Passion for improving engineering velocity and developer productivity.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services for internal developer platforms and tooling.
- Develop APIs, automation services, and platform components using Java and Python.
- Improve and evolve internal developer experience systems, including build, test, and deployment pipelines.
- Build and maintain internal tooling for service provisioning, environment management, and release automation.
- Partner with DevOps and platform teams to enhance CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure automation.
- Develop internal APIs and service frameworks that help teams build and ship software faster.
- Improve observability, logging, tracing, and monitoring systems for engineering teams.
- Collaborate with frontend engineers working in Angular and Flutter on internal dashboards and tooling interfaces.
- Identify software delivery lifecycle bottlenecks and build scalable solutions to reduce operational friction.
- Lead technical design discussions for platform architecture and internal systems.
- Mentor engineers and promote best practices in developer experience, automation, and platform engineering.
- Support and improve the reliability of internal systems used by engineering teams across the organization.
Benefits
- Bonus eligibility.
- 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.
- Flexible paid time off without accrual requirements.
- Flexible paid sick time without accrual requirements.
- 11 paid holidays.
- Other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
