University of Washington

Senior Systems Engineer

University of Washington$99K — $161K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in relevant field or equivalent experience.
  • 4+ years developing and supporting web applications.
  • Experience in backend development with languages such as Python or JavaScript.
  • Proficient in SQL and relational databases like PostgreSQL.
  • Familiar with the software development lifecycle and version control (Git).
  • Experience with DevOps practices, including testing and continuous integration.
  • Strong communication and technical documentation skills.

Responsibilities

  • Design, develop, integrate, test, and deploy custom software solutions.
  • Integrate and deploy both open-source and commercial software.
  • Operate and monitor services to maintain target service levels.
  • Assess software performance against defined objectives.
  • Provide technical consulting to customers and partners on IAM solutions.
  • Document and present solutions in meetings and community events.
  • Participate in professional development and represent the organization at conferences.

Benefits

  • Access to comprehensive health, retirement, and educational benefits.
  • Opportunity for professional development activities.
  • Flexible remote work options when applicable.
  • Supportive team environment with collaboration across campuses.
  • Contribution to critical identity and access management functions.
Full Job Description

Job Description

Reporting to IAM Director in the Information Security (IS) division, the Senior Systems Engineer serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) across engineering and operational aspects of identity and access management, including authentication and authorization, access control, and identity governance stewardship, ensuring secure and seamless access to systems, data, and applications.

This is an essential position and may be required to work remotely when UW suspends operations.

The salary information provided below is for a full-time position.


Key Responsibilities

50% - Design and development

  • Design, develop, integrate, test, debug, and deploy custom-built software
  • Evaluate, configure, integrate, deploy, improve, and contribute to open source software
  • Evaluate, configure, integrate, and deploy commercial software
  • Document, test, and merge code with unit and integration test frameworks

30% - Operations and maintenance

  • Operate and monitor services to meet target service level
  • Assess software against performance objectives
  • Optimize software configurations for maintainability and agility

10% - Consulting and outreach

  • Provide technical consulting to customers and partners
  • Align customer solutions and integration architectures with UWIT practices
  • Present/demonstrate solutions at in-person and online meetings
  • Participate in wider community and industry activities

10% - Indirect

  • Participate in professional development activities
  • Represent the UW at conferences and meetings
  • Perform other duties as required

Required Qualifications

To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.


Minimum Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, informatics, mathematics, information science, business administration, English or related field, or equivalent experience.
  • Four or more years of experience developing and supporting web applications, including:
  • Backend development in a high-level language, such as Python, JavaScript, Bash, or similar, for deployment in a Linux or cloud environment;
  • Database development using SQL and a relational database system such as PostgreSQL
  • Experience developing software in Python and maintaining C
  • Demonstrated experience with the software development lifecycle including version control (Git) and code reviews
  • Experience with DevOps practices including testing, continuous integration, and monitoring
  • Demonstrated ability to work with minimal supervision, both independently and as part of a team.
  • Demonstrated excellent written/oral communication skills, technical documentation skills, user liaison skills, and personal interaction abilities.

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Manager.


Preferred Qualifications
  • Frontend web browser development using HTML/CSS/JavaScript;
  • Experience building, maintaining, and operating web service APIs, including management of authentication and authorization, versioning and change control, and caching and scaling.
  • Experience deploying in cloud environments using tools like Docker and Kubernetes.
  • Experience with deployment tools like Ansible and GitHub actions.
  • Experience with Javascript frameworks like Angular or React.
  • Experience with IAM technologies used in research and education communities like SAML, OIDC, InCommon, eduGAIN, eduPerson, and ORCID.
  • Experience in a major research University setting.
  • Familiar with messaging services like Amazon SNS/SQS.
  • Knowledge of software test methodologies and automation tools.
  • Knowledge of networking-related concepts such as routing basics, DNS, and DHCP

Working Conditions
  • Currently this position is hybrid and requires at least 2 days in office.
  • The position contributes to a collaborative team environment, in an open physical workspace, through ad hoc meetings focused on design and/or problem-solving, using a variety of communication and collaboration tools.
  • The incumbent may need to respond to service incidents, outages, and respond to customer questions on a priority/urgency basis.
  • The incumbent may need to work varied hours to meet priority project milestones and other externally imposed deadlines and to accomplish work assignments on which the activities of others depend. Occasional travel may be required. The same levels of participation are required in a remote work environment.


About the Team

UWIT is the University of Washington’s central IT organization, supporting all three campuses, UW medical centers, and global research. We partner across the University to power teaching, learning, innovation, and discovery. We are here to serve UW.

IAM within UW-IT, is at the very core of the University activities and is a critical component for FERPA, HIPAA, and numerous other administrative functions, such as human resources, facilities, purchasing, research grants, contracts and legal affairs. As more technological 'solutions' become available in the marketplace, this person needs to ensure that the University's interests with respect to identity and access are properly vetted before new solutions are deployed.

This position reports through the and will work closely with other IT units across three campuses and UW Medicine, as well as vendors such as Microsoft, Workday, ServiceNow etc. to implement and operate an identity and access solution that supports the University’s mission.

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:

$99,228.00 annual

Pay Range Maximum:

$161,244.00 annual

Other Compensation:

-

Benefits:

For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-uw-staff/

Shift:

First Shift (United States of America)

Temporary or Regular?

This is a regular position

FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):

100.00%

Union/Bargaining Unit:

Not Applicable

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at University of Washington

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Senior Systems Engineer jobs: