Senior Manager, Software Engineering

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:
$170,400. 00 - $281,200. 00

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Supervises engineering team members, providing training, technical standards, and direction.
• Collaborates with leadership, designers, developers, and subject matter experts to establish the technical vision and analyze trade-offs between usability and performance needs, determining platforms, components, software applications, technologies, and security measures.
• Interfaces with product, project, and program offices as well as external teams in the definition and execution of development projects; maintains collaborative relationships with all appropriate stakeholders.
• Works with internal and external customers to elicit technical requirements. Negotiates dependencies and maintains productive working relationships.
• Ensures optimized performance for high utilization, 24x7 access, accessibility (ADA), responsiveness, and scalability.
• Ensures student data is always handled securely and in compliance with applicable laws.
• Develops and directs software system testing procedures, programming, and documentation.
• Continuously improves team's development approach, maximizing team's ability to balance quick execution with security and stability.
• Clearly communicates constraints, conflicts, requirements, compatibility issues, and items which could affect project outcome, final performance level, or product efficacy. Offers appropriate alternatives and contingency plans.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

• Provide technical and architectural leadership and successfully coach an engineering team.
• Develop and direct software system testing procedures, programming, and documentation; demonstrated commitment to efficient, secure, scalable, and maintainable code and engineering practices.
• Demonstrated ability to understand business needs and execute on a business strategy.
• Research, design, and develop computer software systems, applying principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis.
• Manage multiple tasks and responsibilities in rapid, deadline-driven environments; excelling at pinpointing and resolving problems in early project stages to avoid cost/time expenses.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; able to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical team members, external stakeholders, and management.
• Maintain effective working relationships with team members and stakeholders.
• Self-starter with bias for action while maintaining stable, secure user experiences.
• Ability to ramp up quickly on new technologies.
• Exhibit strong attention to detail.
• Exhibit excellent judgment.

• Develops plan to accomplish division or job area responsibilities that align with department.
• Performance may affect department results.
• Work requires some knowledge of the University to recognize impact of decisions made.
• Compiles data to prepare budgets.

• Responsible for making improvements of processes or systems to enhance performance of the job area.
• Accountable for coordinating activities and maintaining relationships with internal (and occasionally external) parties.
• Assignments received and problems faced are broad and undefined, and require use of analytical concepts, investigation, and knowledge from prior experience.

• Communicates within job area and occasionally with external groups and external facing professionals (i. e. Admissions)
• Communicates frequently with external groups on routine and more complex matters.
• Ensures compliance with University policies and procedures within job area and may influence others outside of job area to justify and gain cooperation for policies, practices, and procedures.

• Manages a team of professionals. Manages the work of assigned employees and/or supervisors who generally exercise some latitude and independence in their assignments.
• Ensures proper training of team members, and actively participates in hiring, firing, and promotion decisions. Conducts performance reviews and recommends salary reviews.
• Primarily achieves goals through leading a team.

• Bachelor's degree in computer sciences, information technology, or related field OR equivalent and relevant work experience.
• 10+ years of experience and a proven track record in developing web-based applications and web services using Java, REST, XML, and other web technologies, including experience interfacing with databases, and integrating third party products with existing infrastructure.
• 2 years of experience leading teams of software engineering professionals.

• 5 years of experience leading teams of software engineering professionals.
• Master's degree in computer science, information technology, or related field.