Innovation manager Jobs in Salt Lake City, UT

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 :

Pay Range : $175,900.00 - $272,600.00

Job Description

Are you a visionary architect and hands-on tech lead who thrives on pushing boundaries, breaking the mold, and turning bold ideas into reality? Do you love experimenting with emerging technologies, rapid prototyping, and building next-gen solutions from the ground up?

We are seeking ahighly creative Senior Enterprise Architect to spearhead ourInnovation Development Team.In this role, you'll lead a group of top-tier engineers in an agile, high-impact environment to explore cutting-edge tech, develop proof-of-concepts, and rapidly prototype disruptive solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Innovation & Prototyping - Architect, design, and develop rapid prototypes and proof-of-concepts using emerging technologies (AI / ML, blockchain, AR / VR, edge computing, etc.).

Hands-on Development - Get your hands dirty with code, build MVPs, and test new ideas before scaling.

Explore Emerging Tech - Stay ahead of industry trends and identify technologies that can give us a competitive edge.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration - Work closely with business leaders, product teams, and R&D to align innovation with strategic objectives.

Fail Fast, Learn Faster - Experiment, iterate, and pivot quickly in a fail-fast environment.

Technical Strategy & Roadmap - Define best practices, technical frameworks, and a long-term vision for innovation efforts.

Evangelize Innovation - Champion a culture of creative problem-solving, rapid experimentation, and tech excellence across the company.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership :

Lead the design and development of enterprise-level Java applications.

Define and enforce coding standards, design patterns, and best practices.

Serve as a technical mentor for the engineering team, fostering skill development and innovation.

Architecture and Design :

Design scalable, reliable, and secure software systems that meet business and technical requirements.

Evaluate and select appropriate tools, frameworks, and technologies to meet project needs.

Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure alignment between architecture and business goals.

Software Development :

Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code using Java and related technologies.

Develop and optimize APIs, microservices, and backend systems.

Participate in code reviews to ensure code quality and adherence to standards.

Performance and Optimization :

Analyze and optimize application performance, scalability, and reliability.

Debug and resolve complex technical issues across the software stack.

Collaboration :

Work closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, QA engineers, and DevOps teams.

Contribute to agile development practices, including sprint planning, retrospectives, and continuous integration / delivery.

Emerging Technologies :

Stay updated on emerging technologies, frameworks, and methodologies in software engineering.

Recommend and implement innovative solutions to improve systems and processes.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or related career experience

8+ years of professional experience in Java development and software architecture.

A proven creative problem-solver with a relentless curiosity and passion for solving big, complex problems in unconventional ways.

Proven ability to lead, inspire, and mentor a team of senior engineers.

Exceptional communication, collaboration, design, and negotiation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate, present, and document complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.

Deep knowledge of enterprise architecture principles, frameworks, and methodologies, and DevOps and CI / CD.

Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid cloud integrations.

Knowledge of service mesh and event-driven architecture.

Expertise developing RESTful APIs and microservices.

Solid understanding of databases, including SQL and NoSQL solutions (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB).

Expertise in designing and optimizing systems for performance, reliability, and scalability to meet stringent SLAs and uptime requirements.

Demonstrated ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

Python experience

Knowledge of UML (Unified Modeling Language) or ArchiMate.

Experience with tools such as Jira and Confluence.

Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

Experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

Experience in distributed systems, asynchronous programming, or event-driven architectures.

Familiarity with front-end technologies (e.g., Angular, React, Flutter) for full-stack development.

Knowledge of performance testing and monitoring tools (e.g., JMeter).

Experience with message brokers (e.g., RabbitMQ, Kafka).

Certifications in Java or cloud technologies (e.g., Oracle Certified Professional Java SE, AWS Certified Developer).

Experience withQuantum Computing, Generative AI, or Bioinformatics.

Familiarity withDARPA-style innovation projects or Skunkworks initiatives.

Contributions toopen-source projectsor patents in emerging technologies.

Hackathon winner or side projects that showcase creativity and technical prowess.

LI-ZARD

Position & Application Details

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.

How to Apply : If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer : The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations : Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

Equal Opportunity Employer : We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.