Western Governors University · 14 hours ago
Staff Software Engineer - Site Reliability
Salt Lake City, UT
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$157K/yr - $243K/yr
10+ years expWestern Governors University is committed to expanding access to higher education through innovative online programs. The Staff Software Engineer - Site Reliability will be responsible for ensuring the quality and operational excellence of software services, while also mentoring teams and contributing to project success.
Higher Education
Responsibilities
Acts as an expert in multiple areas of software engineering
Maintains accountability for quality of services in multiple areas and teams for the success of assigned project for on-time, on-budget, and on-scope delivery
Contributes as a lead or consultant for their domain area or multiple teams
Is a ‘go-to’ person in at least one sub-discipline and competent and trusted in several other disciplines or application areas
Contributes formally and informally to the effectiveness of teams through formal and informal mentoring and direction during team meetings and problem solving
Contributes and often identifies systemic issues to be solved and contributes to the resolution of the same
Actively ensures that engineering has the skill sets they need to be successful with current and future technologies
Acts as a planning consultant for Portfolio or Ed Tech as a whole, when identifying technical risks and dependencies
Identifies problems far in advance, finds multiple solutions, and recommends the preferred solution to teams and to management
Speaks authoritatively and accurately with respect to questions related to their area of ownership or for the platform, as a whole
Actively improves operational excellence measured by availability of the platform to students, faculty, and staff
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
Understands implications of functional and non-functional requirements on the system
Identifies deficiencies in requirements and works with product owners to provide alternatives
Performs other job-related duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
10 years of experience in software development; pioneering new approaches and technologies in engineering
Experience in web-based applications and web services such as Java, REST, SQL, GIT, and other technologies, including experience integrating third-party products
Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager
Expert understanding of the processes associated with software development, including Planning, Measurement, Coding, Testing, Reuse, Tools, Abstraction, Algorithms and Complexity, Security, and basic system understanding
Ability to employ the tools and techniques related to an engineering discipline, such as database management, user interface development, inter-process communications, etc
Ability to create designs that can be realized in code that achieve functional and non-functional requirements of the system
Appropriately uses design patterns, system decomposition, security, and fault tolerance
A demonstrated capability in one or more design methodologies, such as Object-oriented design, Function-oriented design, data centered design and the notations appropriate for each
Ability to understand differences, strengths and weaknesses of various Software Development Life Cycle models, and practical considerations of options
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 environment
Uses data and metrics to analyze Key Performance Indicators
Ability to explain the basic value of a system and subsystems to users and how the various subsystems inter-operate to provide features
Able to act as a partner with Operations in solving platform problems at a system level
Knows what the system can and cannot do
Ability to demonstrate a sense of urgency when looking for solutions to problems
Understands the general higher education landscape, particularly with on-line higher education, including competitive landscape, opportunities, and feature gaps
Ability to identify innovative ideas or technologies that represent opportunities to advance the capabilities of the university education platform, our efficiencies in improving our platform, or both
Can leverage change management processes to drive adoption
Ability to make the team stronger and more cohesive
Strong communication skills with the ability to engage others at the right level at the right time
Communicates effectively in group settings by knowing audience, listening effectively, and being responsive
Presents solutions not just problems and effectively manages expectations
Ability to identify, mitigate, or avoid risks and works closely with leads or managers to make sure that such risks and dependencies are understood, accounted, and planned for through an appropriate strategy
Preferred
Master's Degree or PhD in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
Technical experience in any of the following: GIT, SQL, Spring, Spring boot, Java, Angular 2 or later and AWS Services
Experience with salesforce development lifecycle techniques and salesforce governor limits
Experience with cloud-based telephony, CTI, SIP/VoIP phones and protocols, QoS, IVRs, and call recording
Experience architecting, implementing, and managing enterprise-level contact center solutions
Experience with distance education and distance learning students
Technical Certifications
Benefits
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
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
Other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave
Company
Western Governors University
Western Governors University focuses on improving lives by creating pathways to opportunity for its students.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Western Governors University has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (6)
2024 (4)
2023 (12)
2022 (30)
2021 (17)
2020 (37)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
unknownKey Investors
Kauffman Foundation
2025-05-08Grant
Leadership Team
Stephen Herzig
Vice President of Enterprise Solutions
Kacey Thorne
Senior Director, Academic Strategic Initiatives
Recent News
2025-12-02
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