Software Engineer II - Academy

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 408Pay Range: $118,900.00 - $178,500.00

Job Description

The Software Engineer II is an early- to mid-career contributor that has a combination of formal education and experience in the software engineering field. They are responsible for the research, design, development, analysis, testing, and implementation of software operating or application systems. They communicate project information to client, project manager, or other design personnel working on projects. They maintain good working relationships with clients and staff. They write and maintain complete documentation. They support team members and ensure established goals and deadlines are met. They keep management informed of status and significant problems.

Impact Introduction

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 Opportunity

WGU is in the middle of a major architecture transformation. We’re moving from legacy, tightly coupled systems to a modern distributed architecture built on microservices, event-driven architecture (EDA), Backend for Frontend (BFF) services, and service and data mesh. Engineers who join now will help build the platform’s next generation, not just maintain the current one.

What You’ll Do

As a Software Engineer II, you’ll build and own features across our platform, working alongside engineers, architects, and business partners to deliver solutions that directly impact students, faculty, and the broader educational experience.

• Design, build, and support scalable, secure, and high-performing software using a modern full-stack toolset: Angular on the front end, and Node.js, NestJS, and Python on the back end.

• Own features end to end, from design through deployment and production support, balancing speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.

• Contribute to our architecture transformation by building microservices, event-driven services, and BFF layers.

• Design and work with modern data layers, including PostgreSQL and YugabyteDB.

• Partner with product, architecture, and business teams to understand objectives and translate requirements into sound technical solutions.

• Participate in design discussions and code reviews, and contribute to engineering standards and best practices.

• Apply AI-assisted development practices to accelerate delivery, and integrate AI/ML services into applications to create smarter, more capable platform experiences.

• Troubleshoot and resolve production issues, using observability tooling to improve service stability and the customer experience.

• Build quality in through thoughtful testing, automation, and data-driven decision making.

• Raise risks and dependencies early so the team can address them before they affect delivery.

• Share knowledge with teammates and support newer engineers through pairing and code review.

Why Engineers Love This Role

• Architecture Transformation: Join us mid-transformation as we move to a modern distributed architecture built on microservices, event-driven architecture (EDA), and service and data mesh. You’ll help build the platform’s next generation, not just maintain the current one.

• Architectural Exposure: Work side by side with Solutions and Enterprise Architects and see firsthand how platform strategy is shaped.

• Meaningful Impact: Build solutions that directly support higher education and student success.

• Complex Technical Challenges: Work on integrations, scalability, cloud modernization, AI/ML-powered features, and enterprise-scale systems.

• Modern Toolset: Build with a contemporary stack, including Angular, NestJS, Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, YugabyteDB, Hasura, and Kafka/Pulsar, alongside AI-assisted development tools.

• Growth: Build depth across the stack, expand your technical influence, and develop toward senior engineering roles.

• Continuous Learning: Explore new technologies, including AI/ML integrations, and contribute to engineering innovation.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience.

• Experience building and supporting production web applications and APIs.

• Working knowledge of relational databases and SQL.

• Experience with Git-based workflows and automated testing.

Experience in Lieu of Education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this position may substitute for formal education requirements. Generally, one year of relevant experience may substitute for one year of education, subject to hiring manager discretion.

Bonus Points

• Experience with NestJS or another structured Node.js backend framework.

• Experience with Python, Django, or comparable backend technologies.

• Experience with microservices, event-driven architecture, or BFF patterns.

• Experience with event streaming platforms such as Kafka or Pulsar, or with Hasura.

• Experience with YugabyteDB or other distributed SQL databases.

• Experience with AWS or another major cloud platform, including building or operating cloud-native applications.

• Experience modernizing, migrating, or refactoring legacy applications.

• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, or infrastructure automation.

• Experience with application observability, including logs, metrics, distributed tracing, and production troubleshooting. Dynatrace experience is a plus.

• Experience with authentication standards such as OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML.

• Experience integrating third-party systems and enterprise APIs.

• Experience using AI-assisted software development tools in a professional or project environment.

• Experience working in Agile or Scrum environments with tools such as GitHub, Jira, and Visual Studio Code.

• Technical certifications or relevant project contributions.

What to Expect

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their technical fundamentals, problem-solving approach, learning ability, communication skills, and potential for growth.

We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward candidates whose experience, capabilities, and potential best align with the role and our mission.

The interview process includes:

• Introductory call

• Technical and problem-solving interview

• Hiring manager interview

The technical interview focuses on how candidates reason through realistic engineering problems. Candidates may be asked to discuss code, APIs, testing, debugging, application design, and tradeoffs, as well as how they use AI and other modern development tools responsibly and effectively. Memorization of framework-specific trivia is not the primary focus.

Work Location

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in the Salt Lake City, Utah office. The working arrangement is designed to support close collaboration, mentoring, and connection across the engineering organization.

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Travel Requirement

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits, typically one or two per year. Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events necessary to support organizational requirements.

Job Description Disclaimer

This position description describes the major duties, responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions associated with the role. It is intended to reflect the position accurately, but management reserves the right to revise responsibilities and requirements as organizational needs evolve. Other responsibilities may be assigned when necessary.

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.