Senior Software Engineer

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 410

Pay Range: $140,200.00 - $217,200.00

Job Description

At Western Governors University, we’re building modern digital platforms that help expand access to education at scale. We’re seeking a highly skilled Senior Backend-Focused Full Stack Software Engineer to design, build, and scale modern applications and distributed systems that power exceptional student and employee experiences.

This role is ideal for an engineer who thrives on solving complex backend challenges while still contributing across the full stack when needed. You’ll play a key role in architecting scalable backend services using Java and Python while partnering with frontend and mobile teams working in Angular and Flutter.

You’ll collaborate closely with product managers, architects, DevOps engineers, and engineering leadership to deliver secure, reliable, and high-performing solutions. This is an opportunity to influence technical direction, lead engineering initiatives, and help modernize platforms using cloud-native technologies and engineering best practices.

 

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services, APIs, and distributed systems using Java and Python

• Lead backend architecture decisions focused on scalability, reliability, security, and performance

• Build and maintain RESTful APIs and microservices that support web and mobile applications

• Collaborate with frontend engineers working in Angular and Flutter to deliver seamless end-to-end solutions

• Optimize database performance, system integrations, and application reliability

• Implement cloud-native solutions and contribute to infrastructure automation initiatives

• Drive engineering best practices around testing, CI/CD, observability, and secure software development

• Mentor engineers through code reviews, technical leadership, and architectural guidance

• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues across the application stack

• Participate in technical strategy discussions and platform modernization initiatives

• Contribute to engineering standards, documentation, and continuous improvement efforts

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience

• Strong backend development expertise with Java and Python

• Experience building scalable APIs, microservices, and distributed systems

• Experience with Spring Boot, FastAPI, Flask, Django, or similar backend frameworks

• Solid understanding of full-stack application architecture

• Working knowledge of Angular, TypeScript, and frontend integration patterns

• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases

• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and DevOps practices

• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes

• Strong troubleshooting, performance tuning, and debugging skills

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and technical leadershi