Senior Software Engineer | Developer Experience

Job Description

At Western Governors University, we are investing heavily in modern engineering platforms and internal tooling that improve how software is built, tested, deployed, and operated. We're seeking a highly skilled Senior Backend-Focused Full Stack Software Engineer to help design and scale the internal systems, developer platforms, and automation that power our engineering organization.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys building backend systems and APIs-but is especially energized by improving developer experience, internal tooling, and platform capabilities. You'll work across Java and Python backend services while partnering closely with platform engineers, DevOps, and product teams to streamline the software delivery lifecycle.

You will help shape the internal "paved roads" that engineering teams rely on: CI/CD automation, service scaffolding, developer portals, observability systems, internal APIs, and shared platform services. Your work will directly improve engineering velocity, reliability, and consistency across the organization.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services that power internal developer platforms and tooling
• Develop APIs, automation services, and platform components using Java and Python
• Improve and evolve internal developer experience (DevEx) systems, including build, test, and deployment pipelines
• Build and maintain internal tooling for service provisioning, environment management, and release automation
• Partner with DevOps and platform teams to enhance CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure automation
• Develop internal APIs and service frameworks that enable teams to build and ship software faster
• Improve observability, logging, tracing, and monitoring systems for engineering teams
• Collaborate with frontend engineers working in Angular and Flutter on internal dashboards and tooling interfaces
• Reduce operational friction by identifying bottlenecks in the SDLC and building scalable solutions
• Lead technical design discussions for platform architecture and internal systems
• Mentor engineers and help drive best practices in DevEx, automation, and platform engineering
• Support and improve reliability of internal systems used by engineering teams across the organization

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Strong backend development experience with Java and Python
• Experience building internal tools, platforms, or developer-facing systems
• Experience with Spring Boot, FastAPI, Flask, Django, or similar frameworks
• Solid understanding of distributed systems and service-oriented architecture
• Experience building APIs and automation services at scale
• Familiarity with frontend integration using Angular and TypeScript
• Experience with CI/CD systems and software delivery pipelines
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes in production environments
• Experience working with relational and NoSQL databases
• Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and systems thinking skills
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work across engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in platform engineering, DevEx, or internal developer tooling teams
• Experience with event-driven systems and message queues
• Experience building developer portals or internal self-service platforms
• Familiarity with GraphQL and API gateway architectures
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or similar)
• Strong knowledge of observability tooling (metrics, logging, tracing)
• Experience improving build systems, test automation, or release engineering
• Experience supporting large-scale engineering organizations or monorepo environments
• Passion for improving engineering velocity and developer productivity