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:
Job Description
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer - Salesforce to join the Student Lifecycle Services engineering team at WGU. You'll work on a large, complex Salesforce org that directly supports the student journey — from enrollment through graduation. This isn't a simple CRM. It's an enterprise platform with 300+ flows, 2000+ Apex classes, deep integrations with Banner (SIS), ServiceNow, Kafka, and other university systems, and serves thousands of internal users daily.You'll build and maintain the automation, integrations, and platform capabilities that enable WGU to serve 150,000+ students. The work matters — every flow you build, every integration you design, every performance problem you solve has a direct line to whether a student enrolls on time, gets their financial aid processed, or connects with their mentor.
We use Copado for CI/CD, follow a trigger framework pattern, and deploy through a structured promotion pipeline. We value code that's readable, testable, and built with the next engineer in mind.
The Salesforce engineering team operates within WGU's broader Ed Tech Engineering organization. We work closely with Product, Marketing, Operations, Enrollment, and Student Services stakeholders. The team practices Agile (Scrum).
What You'll Do
Design systems that span multiple Salesforce capabilities and external systems — expertise in when and how to deploy Platform Events, CDC, async Apex, and integration callouts, and how these can work together as a coherent architecture
Make architectural decisions for the portfolio — not just your team's code, but how it fits with everything else
Lead technical design for complex cross-system features (Salesforce, Banner, ServiceNow, Kafka)
Solve the hardest platform problems — the ones that cross transaction boundaries, involve multiple async handoffs, or require understanding the full order of execution
Mentor SE I and SE II engineers through design guidance, architecture reviews, and pairing on complex problems
Drive technical direction for Salesforce development practices (async patterns, integration standards, testing strategy)
Own and reduce technical debt — identify what needs to change, build the case, and execute the plan
Partner with engineering leadership on platform strategy (migration plans, org health, governance limit forecasting)
Represent the technical perspective to non-technical stakeholders (Product, Operations, Academic leadership)
Design CI/CD improvements and release strategy for the portfolio
What You Bring
6+ years of software development experience, with at least 3 years on the Salesforce platform
Experience designing multi-system integrations (not just building them — designing the approach, error handling strategy, and data reconciliation pattern)
Mastery of async Apex patterns — you choose between Batch, Queueable, Platform Events, and CDC based on the problem, not habit
Deep understanding of Salesforce order of execution and how it impacts complex automation
Track record of solving problems that span multiple systems and nobody else could figure out
Experience mentoring engineers and elevating team capability
Ability to communicate technical architecture to both engineers and non-technical leadership
Experience with CI/CD pipeline design and management (Copado or equivalent)
Preferred:
Salesforce Platform Developer II certification
One or more Architect-level certifications (Integration Architect, Data Architect, Application Architect)
Experience with Copado at the pipeline/strategy level (not just as a user)
Experience with Kafka or event streaming platforms
Experience in higher education technology (SIS integration, FERPA-aware systems)
Experience with large-scale Salesforce orgs (complex sharing models, 100+ objects, 300+ automation components)
Experience migrating legacy automation (Process Builder/Workflow Rules → Flow/Apex)
What Success Looks Like (First 6 Months)
Leading the technical design for at least one cross-system feature
Identifying and driving resolution of a systemic platform issue (performance, reliability, or architectural)
Becoming the go-to person for hard problems that cross system boundaries
Establishing or improving at least one technical standard that the team adopts
Mentoring at least one engineer in a way that visibly accelerates their growth
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 Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.
Skills Required
- 6+ years of software development experience, with at least 3 years on the Salesforce platform
- Experience designing multi-system integrations including error handling and data reconciliation strategies
- Mastery of async Apex patterns (Batch, Queueable, Platform Events, CDC)
- Deep understanding of Salesforce order of execution and complex automation impacts
- Proven track record solving cross-system platform problems
- Experience mentoring engineers and providing architecture/design guidance
- Ability to communicate technical architecture to engineers and non-technical leadership
- Experience with CI/CD pipeline design and management (Copado or equivalent)
- Salesforce Platform Developer II certification
- Architect-level certifications (Integration Architect, Data Architect, Application Architect)
- Experience with Copado at the pipeline/strategy level
- Experience with Kafka or event streaming platforms
- Experience in higher education technology (SIS integration, FERPA-aware systems)
- Experience with large-scale Salesforce orgs (complex sharing, 100+ objects, 300+ automation components)
- Experience migrating legacy automation (Process Builder/Workflow Rules -> Flow/Apex)
What We Do
Western Governors University is a private, nonprofit online university that provides accessible, competency-based education designed for working professionals.
