Staff 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 Staff Software Engineer is a position of technical expertise, influence, and leadership in the technology realm. The position will require them to apply their expert knowledge to ensure best practices and well-engineered systems 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. Staff Software Engineers are also tasked with establishing and maintaining a positive and productive culture based on the WGU Leadership Principles.

Competencies: 

Software Engineering

• Software Construction: Understands the processes associated with software development including topics such as, but not restricted to: Planning, Measurement, Coding, Testing, Reuse, Tools, Abstraction, Algorithms and Complexity, Security and basic system understanding

• Tools and Methods: Employs the tools and techniques related to an engineering discipline such as database management, user interface development, inter-process communications etc.

• Design and Architecture: Able to create designs that can be realized in code that achieve functional and non-functional requirements of the system. Appropriate use of design patterns, system decomposition, security, fault tolerance. A demonstrated capability in one or more design methodologies such as Object-oriented design, Function-oriented design, data centered design, etc. and the notations appropriate for each

• Quality: 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

• Process: Understands differences, strengths and weaknesses of various Software Development Life Cycle models, practical considerations of options and is competent and contributing member in the teams chosen process

• Requirements Management: Interprets functional and non-functional requirements into designs and code that meet those specifications. Able to identify gaps, risks, deficiencies in such requirements. Able to write technical requirements that can be interpreted by others into system realizations.

• Cloud Development: 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 (e.g., AWS (Amazon Web Services), Azure etc.) environment. Uses data and metrics to analyze system KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

Domain Knowledge

• Platform Knowledge: Demonstrates understanding of WGU’s education delivery platform. Can explain the basic value of the system and subsystems to users, how various subsystems inter-operate to provide features. Able to act as a partner with Operations in solving platform problems. Knows what the system can, and cannot, do.

• User Focus: Understands our users and the problems that we solve for them. Can demonstrate a sense of urgency and particularly, “student obsession” when looking for solutions to their problems

• Market Awareness: Understands the general higher education landscape particularly with on-line higher education, including competitive landscape, opportunities, feature gaps etc.

• Pioneering and Innovation: Able to identify innovative ideas or technologies that represent opportunities to advance the capabilities of WGUs education platform, our efficiencies in improving our platform or both. Can leverage change management processes to drive adoption of same

Leadership

• Team Building: Makes the team stronger and more cohesive

• Communication: Engages others at the right level and right time. Communicates effectively in group settings by knowing audience, listens effectively, is responsiv