Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.

Target Resume Now

Tailor your resume to this Principal Software Engineer role.

Rezi rewrites your resume against Western Governors University's job description. Free.

Resume score gauge reading 58 out of 100

Don't guess if your resume is good enough.

See how it scores against the Principal Software Engineer posting at Western Governors University — free, in seconds.

About the Role

The Principal Software Engineer is the primary technical leader responsible for shipping production software, setting engineering standards, and resolving complex technical challenges. This role demands expertise in AI-assisted development, agentic engineering, cloud-native architecture, and platform thinking, connecting engineering decisions to business results.

Responsibilities

Partner with engineering and product leadership to define technical strategy and delivery roadmaps that improve the student experience at scale
Build and ship production-grade software while establishing engineering standards others follow
Lead Agile delivery practices that balance rigorous planning with rapid execution and predictable outcomes
Design and evolve cloud-native architectures with strong emphasis on scalability, observability, reliability, security, and operational supportability
Evaluate technical decisions through a build, buy, borrow, or bot lens with focus on speed-to-value, sustainability, and fiscal responsibility
Mentor engineers on modern software engineering practices, AI-assisted development workflows, and emerging technologies
Prototype new tools, frameworks, and architectural patterns through proof-of-value initiatives
Drive engineering excellence across multiple teams by establishing repeatable delivery patterns and operational standards
Partner closely with infrastructure, cloud, security, architecture, and product teams as a peer technical leader
Identify architectural inefficiencies and technical debt, proposing practical and cost-effective solutions grounded in data
Communicate technical strategy, dependencies, tradeoffs, and risks clearly to executive leadership
Support operational readiness, incident response, and day-2 supportability across enterprise systems
Lead through accountability, urgency, ownership, and attention to detail
Participate in critical operational events and provide leadership during high-impact incidents when needed

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field
12+ years of progressive software engineering experience including architecture, delivery leadership, and technical mentorship across multiple teams
Experience building and operating web applications using Java, REST APIs, SQL, and Git in enterprise environments
Experience designing and delivering system integrations with third-party and internal platforms
Track record in large-scale enterprise IT organizations with established operational processes
Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education (1 year experience per 1 year education, at hiring manager discretion)
Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
Experience with Kafka/Confluent and integration middleware (Apache Camel, MuleSoft, or similar)
Hands-on AWS experience: ECS/EKS, Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, Terraform
Spring Boot, Kubernetes, and container orchestration in production
Observability stacks (Dynatrace, Datadog, or similar) including custom metrics and SLO management
Familiarity with AI/ML platforms, LLM integration, and agentic frameworks
Higher education, EdTech, or regulated industry experience
ITIL v4 Foundation or higher; AWS Solutions Architect or CKA certification
Experience across multiple industry verticals

Skills

AI-assisted development
Agentic engineering
Cloud-native architecture
Platform thinking
Build, buy, borrow, or bot evaluation
Business fundamentals (P&L, cost of delay, unit economics)
Java
REST APIs
SQL
Git
Kafka/Confluent
Integration middleware (Apache Camel, MuleSoft, or similar)
AWS (ECS/EKS, Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, Terraform)
Spring Boot
Kubernetes
Container orchestration
Observability stacks (Dynatrace, Datadog, or similar)
Custom metrics
SLO management
AI/ML platforms
LLM integration
Agentic frameworks
ITIL v4
AWS Solutions Architect
CKA

Location

Remote

Work Type

Full-time
Regular

Experience Level

Principal
12+ years of progressive software engineering experience

Education Level

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field
Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Salary/Compensations

$180,300.00 - $279,500.00

Benefits

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
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
Other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave

About the Company

WGU is driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs.
WGU is 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.
Working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

Equal Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.