Engineer 3

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students.

We’re on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big.

Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We’re changing. Because students need a better way.

We’re looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students—and for each other.

This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It’s where you’re empowered to bring your authentic self to work.

Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you—from physical and mental to financial and professional. You’ll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more.

We’re obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking “why not?” when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills.

Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

What You'll Contribute

The Engineer III will be responsible for owning technically challenging work, collaborating cross-functionally, and contributing to the design, development, and support of scalable applications across front-end, back-end, and cloud infrastructure. This role plays a key part in building reliable, maintainable software solutions while leveraging modern development practices and emerging technologies, including AI-assisted software development.

What You'll Do

• Design, code, test, and deploy robust software solutions with a focus on reliability, scalability, and maintainability.
• Take ownership of moderately complex features, services, and technical initiatives.
• Design, develop, and support full-stack applications across front-end, back-end, APIs, databases, and cloud environments.
• Work closely with other engineers, product managers, and designers to build features that solve real customer problems.
• Contribute to and uphold high standards of code quality through code reviews, unit testing, and documentation.
• Analyze and resolve technical issues across the software stack. Troubleshoot production issues and implement sustainable fixes.
• Leverage AI-assisted development tools to improve development efficiency while applying sound engineering judgment and validating generated solutions.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of solutions that may incorporate machine learning capabilities, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures, and Large Language Model (LLM) integrations.

The above information is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this job; it is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees in this role.

What You Have

Minimum education, skills and experience required.

• Proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, Go, C#).
• Experience developing and deploying software in a production environment. 
• Experience designing, developing, and supporting scalable applications across front-end, back-end, APIs, databases, and cloud infrastructure.
• Strong proficiency with modern web technologies and software engineering best practices.
• Solid understanding of computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design).
• Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience effectively leveraging AI-assisted development tools while validating outputs and applying sound engineering judgment.
• Good communication skills and a collaborative attitude.

Preferred education, skills, and experience.

• 5+ years of professional engineering experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience with cloud platforms, preferably AWS.
• Hands-on experience building or supporting solutions utilizing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), machine learning pipelines, Large Language Models (LLMs), or other AI-driven technologies.
• Ability to clearly explain technical design decisions, evaluate tradeoffs, and communicate complex concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience validating AI-generated code, troubleshooting complex technical issues, and delivering production-ready software solutions.
• Experience building scalable distributed systems and cloud-native applications.

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination by employers, in compensation and employment opportunities, against qualified individuals with disabilities who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the “essential functions” of a job. A function may be essential for any of several reasons, including: the job exists to perform that function, the employee holding the job was hired for his/her expertise in performing the function, or only a limited number of employees are available to perform that function.

Feeling your best helps you do your best:

Our benefits take care of the whole you—so you can build your work around your life (not the other way around!).

• Competitive base salaries 

• Bonus incentives 

• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed

• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 401k with employer match

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more

• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance  

• Flexible hybrid working arrangements.

• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs

• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware) 

• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives

• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs

• Career development and training opportunities

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Sallie Mae is proud to be an equal opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, gender identity, disability, Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Click hereto view the U.S. Pay Transparency Policy, here for federal job applicant notices, and here to view the California Employee Privacy Notice.

Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please call (855) 756-2007 and choose option 9. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.