Job Description

Summary

Staff Software Engineers in Product Development are responsible for leading software solutions development within the R&D Organization. They work in the context of an agile team, driving and guiding the implementation of customer and system user stories on a variety of platforms, technologies, and programming languages, and in addition are expected to work across teams, encouraging code and pattern reuse and overall best practices across the organization. Staff Software Engineers are the technical leaders and innovators of one or more discrete components of Workiva software, with broad and complete understanding of all aspects of those components. They have a proven track record of delivering high quality code to production and generally display a greater level of experience, depth, and responsibility over a Senior Software Engineer. Key results for which individuals in this role are accountable include: breadth and depth of understanding of Workiva's software components, understanding customer needs and requirements, designing applications, programming and testing of code, architecting innovative solutions, communication with team members and other teams, and solution development planning. The Staff Software Engineer is also accountable for managing the backlog of bugs in production, level of engagement in communicating across teams, and articulation of design decisions in Agile review meetings and presentations.

What You'll Do

Identifies & Fulfills Customer Needs & Requirements: Identifies and clearly articulates customer needs and requirements and writes code that meets those needs and also serves the larger business needs of the company

Provides leadership for the product team to fully understand and resolve issues, concerns, and problems that result in delivering high quality product components

Recognizes the implications of work being done for addressing the needs and concerns of the larger customer base of Workiva and growing the business

Software Engineering Lead: Identifies customer or platform needs and requirements and occasionally performs duties associated with the platform/application product owner role

Develops and maintains a complete and thorough understanding of all aspects of the software components they are responsible for. This is not limited to code, and includes all aspects of the software development lifecycle, including concept, prototyping, requirements gathering, development, test development, benchmarking, monitoring, analytics, technical support, customer support etc.

Supports Product Development Manager or Architect to lead the build effort

When serving in product owner role, maintains the backlog, coordinates teams, and works to resolve interdependencies with other product teams

Provides technical support to the Product Development manager - leveraging technical understanding of product functionality in defining customer requirements and designing optimal solutions

Software Development Planning: Accurately forecasts and plans solution development team deliverables and timelines

Forecasts level of team effort in terms of cost, quality, and timelines

Estimates and works within planned budgets and timelines, and ensures quality of finished product

Manages dependencies between teams in forecasting and planning

Knows team’s capabilities and the scope and level of anticipated effort to produce intended results

Application/Component Design: Designs complete innovative applications or solutions to meet customer needs and requirements

Provides leadership for the development team in generating innovative solutions

Leads team members to explore new approaches that will provide optimal solutions to identified issues

Collaborates with architects and product managers to design complete software products that can be leveraged to meet a broad range of customer needs and requirements

Programming & Testing Code: Creates, modifies, and tests code that meets customer requirements with minimal need for re-work and performs thorough unit testing, and considers full range of implications of a given solution on other related applications and functionality. Generally advances the state of the product area they work within and are widely recognized for their contributions to a given area.

What You'll Need

Education

Undergraduate Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in a related field.

Skills

Demonstrated proficiency in programming to include a solid foundation in computer science, with competencies in data structures, algorithms, object-oriented software design, and working with cloud- based distributed systems

Expertise working in Python, Go, C#, Java, Dart, JavaScript, or React

Experience

Preferred 7 years experience in software development

Preferred experience working in an agile development environment

Preferred experience leading a team

Experience programming in one or more of: mobile computing, SQL, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, database design, web application design, MVC patterns, Dart, Go, knowledge of HTTP and web protocols are a plus

Experience building unit tests and integration tests of code - as important as skill in writing code

Solid testing background is a strong indicator of a good fit with the Workiva environment

Travel Requirement

Less than 10% travel

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

Reliable internet access for any period of time working remotely, not in a Workiva office.