Senior Software Engineer - Site Reliability

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

About WGU

At Western Governors University (WGU), we're transforming higher education through innovation, technology, and purpose-driven design. Our engineering teams build systems that empower learners across the nation - creating scalable, reliable, and high-performing platforms that make education more accessible than ever.

We're seeking a Senior Software Engineer who's ready to shape the future of online education by architecting resilient, modern systems and mentoring the next generation of engineering talent.

Our Mission

At WGU, we are dedicated to changing lives by creating pathways to opportunity. Every system, application, and solution we build is designed to empower students, remove barriers, and support success at scale.

The Role

As a Senior Software Engineer at WGU, you'll play a key role in designing, developing, testing, and deploying enterprise-grade applications that support our mission. You'll collaborate across disciplines, contribute code that drives measurable impact, and champion engineering best practices that elevate quality, reliability, and user experience.

This role also blends elements of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) by ensuring systems are scalable, observable, and built for resilience. You'll automate key processes, improve system-level objectives, and help teams adopt strong operational excellence practices.

What You'll Do

• Lead and Mentor : Serve as a technical expert and guide for junior engineers - raising the bar for code quality, performance, and innovation.
• Design and Build : Research, architect, and implement scalable applications and services that power WGU's digital ecosystem.
• Improve Systems : Eliminate redundant or low-value processes and prioritize work that improves reliability, software delivery speed, and the student experience.
• Champion Resilience : Advocate for distributed-system best practices by including graceful degradation, stateless design, and fault tolerance.
• Enhance Reliability : Guide teams in defining and achieving SLIs / SLOs and managing error budgets to balance speed and stability.
• Collaborate Effectively : Partner with cross-functional teams to solve complex challenges, identify risks early, and deliver sustainable solutions.
• Innovate for Impact : Identify emerging technologies and creative solutions that advance WGU's mission, improve platform performance, and scale educational access.
• Drive Continuous Improvement : Contribute to incident resolution, system monitoring, and proactive enhancements that minimize downtime and optimize service restoration.
• Test with Purpose : Use modern tools and strategies to balance quality assurance and delivery efficiency by finding the "sweet spot" between speed and stability.
• Contribute to Culture : Foster a culture of accountability, empathy, and technical excellence through collaboration, feedback, and shared success.

What You Bring (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities)

Qualifications :

Minimum Requirements :

Preferred Qualifications :

Why Join WGU?

Physical Requirements :

Disclaimer :

This job description reflects the core duties and expectations of the Senior Software Engineer role but is not exhaustive. WGU reserves the right to modify responsibilities as necessary to meet evolving organizational needs.

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 recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity : All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.