The Opportunity

We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to help us push the boundaries of what education can offer through the power of technology.

Education is our passion and our team members bring that to work each day as they aim to advance learning in every region of the world.

Blackboard is the world's leading education technology company, providing dynamic products and services to the global education community.

We’re focused on driving innovation in EdTech and working with our clients to create a smarter learning environment.

For more information about Blackboard Inc. and our career opportunities, please visit .

This is a position with the Blackboard Collaborate team. Collaborate Ultra is a real-time video conferencing tool that lets you add files, share applications, and use a virtual whiteboard to interact.

You’ll help provide institutions with a reliable SaaS-based virtual classroom environment used by millions of users around the world

As a member of our Product Development organization, you’ll work in an agile environment delivering industry-leading SaaS products and web service platforms.

You’ll be deeply involved in translating wireframes and sketches into working prototypes to refine user interface behaviors.

As Staff Software Engineer, your specific responsibilities will include :

Participating in hands-on technical design, coding, and implementation of product features

Technical collaboration with Architects and Product Designers contributing to the overall architectural vision of cloud service infrastructure in support of Blackboard’s notification products

Enhancing and supporting existing cloud-based products; designing and implementing new features; assessing and paying down technical debt

Communicating progress and escalating issues to management in a timely manner

Participating in agile planning and execution

Acting as a lead engineer on a development team responsible for developing and testing features or fixing bugs on our industry-leading Blackboard Collaborate products

Developing broad and deep knowledge on our current software architecture and helping define our next generation architecture

Coaching and mentoring junior team members; performing peer code reviews and delivering feedback

Collaborating in a cross-functional agile team to solve challenging technical problems with innovative solutions

Following best practices and methodologies to produce desired software on time with top notch quality

The Candidate :

Required skills / qualifications :

Degree in Computer Science or related field

8-10 years of experience with web application development

Exceptional object-oriented and coding skills, Understanding of Service Oriented Architectures and RESTful Web Service best practices

Ability to design and develop scalable, distributed, high availability applications in the cloud via API-based microservices

Demonstrated ability to incorporate beneficial software design patterns and identify performance anti-patterns

Hands-on experience with SQL Programming (PostgreSQL)

Basic understanding of frontend technologies (JavaScript, Ajax, jQuery, etc.)

Experience participating in agile and fast-paced software development methodologies like XP or Scrum

Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills

Preferred skills / qualifications :

Experience with Java / Scala / Groovy

Experience in frontend frameworks like Angular or React

Experience with the AWS public cloud

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, Blackboard positions are currently remote (where possible).

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required.

Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities at any time.

Blackboard is an equal employment opportunity / affirmative action employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression, protected military / veteran status, or any other legally protected factor.