Director, 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:
 

Grade: Executive Technical 716

Pay Range: $190,100.00 - $342,200.00

Job Description

 

Summary:

Want to make an incredible impact and lead the development of innovative technology products used by hundreds of thousands of students? We are looking for a seasoned software engineering leader who knows how to deliver software effectively in a large enterprise or higher-ed institution and to harness the power of AI to improve software quality and velocity dramatically. The Director, Software Engineering, provides technical leadership, strategic direction, and people leadership for software engineering teams responsible for designing, developing, and supporting business-critical applications. This role oversees product and feature roadmaps, guides agile delivery practices, manages resource planning and project schedules, mentors software development professionals, and boldly employs AI to deliver high-quality solutions that meet business needs.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Ensure software development teams consistently deliver quality solutions on time, within budget, and within scope.
• Drive the full software development life cycle, including requirements analysis, feasibility estimates, design, coding, documentation, testing, implementation, and support.
• Develop project plans, manage resource planning, oversee scheduling, and monitor development timelines.
• Build, lead, and manage multidisciplinary software engineering teams and AI coding/testing agents, ensuring development processes adhere to industry best practices.
• Oversee the quality and process of design reviews, code reviews, and mentoring efforts to support team growth and technical excellence.
• Support change management processes related to software releases, application patching, and production configuration changes.
• Manage multiple priorities in high-pressure environments while identifying and resolving issues early to reduce project risk, cost, and timeline impacts.
• Provide oversight and management of department expenses, budget planning, and resource allocation.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong people leadership and management skills, with the ability to engage effectively with staff, colleagues, cross-functional teams, and external partners.
• Ability to drive a culture of quality, ownership, and accountability across development and delivery teams.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical requirements into functional software using industry best practices.
• Expertise in vendor contract management and the management of distributed development teams and resources.
• Expertise in Agile methodologies, including Scrum and test-driven development.
• Experience with application architecture and informed buy-versus-build and interface decision-making.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in both self-managed and team-based Agile/Scrum environments.
• Deep technical knowledge of web applications and web services.
• Solid understanding of cloud services and modern cloud architecture.
• Fluency in multiple AI development tools and frameworks such as Claude Code, Amazon Q, Cursor, GitHub CoPilot.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of software engineering experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience leading a team, including at least 2 years at the Senior Manager or Director level.
• Experience driving team adoption of AI-native coding and/or AI coding agents.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the higher education technology domain

Experience in Lieu of Education

An equivalent combination of training, experience, credentials, or accomplishments that demonstrates the ability to perform the essential functions of this role may substitute for education degree requirements.

Travel Requirements

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

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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.