Senior Software Engineer | Developer Experience

At Western Governors University, we are investing heavily in modern engineering platforms and internal tooling that improve how software is built, tested, deployed, and operated. We’re seeking a highly skilled Senior Backend-Focused Full Stack Software Engineer to help design and scale the internal systems, developer platforms, and automation that power our engineering organization.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys building backend systems and APIs-but is especially energized by improving developer experience, internal tooling, and platform capabilities. You’ll work across Java and Python backend services while partnering closely with platform engineers, DevOps, and product teams to streamline the software delivery lifecycle.

You will help shape the internal “paved roads” that engineering teams rely on: CI/CD automation, service scaffolding, developer portals, observability systems, internal APIs, and shared platform services. Your work will directly improve engineering velocity, reliability, and consistency across the organization.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services that power internal developer platforms and tooling
• Develop APIs, automation services, and platform components using Java and Python
• Improve and evolve internal developer experience (DevEx) 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 enable teams to 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
• Reduce operational friction by identifying bottlenecks in the SDLC and building scalable solutions
• Lead technical design discussions for platform architecture and internal systems
• Mentor engineers and help drive best practices in DevEx, automation, and platform engineering
• Support and improve reliability of internal systems used by engineering teams across the organization

• 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 (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

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in platform engineering, DevEx, 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 (Terraform or similar)
• Strong knowledge of observability tooling (metrics, logging, 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

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: $143,700.00 - $222,700.00, * Internal tooling and platforms are reliable, scalable, and easy to use

• CI/CD pipelines and release processes are streamlined and automated
• Improved visibility into system health through strong observability practices
• Reduced operational overhead through self-service developer platforms
• Strong collaboration between platform, product, and application engineering teams
• Consistent engineering standards and improved developer experience across teams

Why Join Us?

• Direct impact on how hundreds of engineers build and deliver software
• Opportunity to shape modern developer platforms and internal tooling ecosystems
• Work on high-impact systems that improve engineering velocity at scale
• Modern cloud-native stack and automation-first engineering culture
• Collaborative, platform-focused engineering organization
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits
• Flexible work environment
• Strong career growth in platform engineering and technical leadership
• Mission-driven organization focused on expanding access to education, Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; 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; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.