Software Engineer IV

WHO WE ARE: Trellis Company is a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation focused on helping people leverage the power of post-secondary education and learning to improve their quality of life and the communities where they live. For more than 40 years Trellis has served as a student loan guarantor, helping to provide trusted guidance and services that help student borrowers successfully repay their federal loans. In addition to pioneering several technologies and services along the way, we have invested in improving student success programs through numerous grants to colleges, universities, and research groups. Today we have expanded our services beyond higher education to include working with employers and community organizations who are focused on aligning the dreams, goals, and skills needs of employees and employers. Connecting these resources and learning pathways together with our expertise in improving student outcomes helps us all to create better and more predictable futures for those we serve. As we move into the future, we're drawing on our history, branching into new sectors beyond student loans, and delivering the same level of exceptional care and service that our customers have come to depend on. We remain invested in the success of students and higher education institutions. This combination of stability and vision creates a unique intersection: a startup environment at a company that also has a stable foundation, resulting in an opportunity for the right candidate to help shape our company's future. This is an exciting time to join the Trellis team! Location: The position is hybrid, two days weekly required in office. Office location is Round Rock, Texas. JOB SUMMARY Software Engineer IV serves as a senior technical member of the Distributed Applications team with primary responsibility for designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining Web, Mobile, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), and Legacy applications. This role builds and delivers enterprise applications and AI-enabled solutions using modern development technologies and tools, including Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI agents, and AI-driven workflow automation. This position collaborates closely with Solutions Architects, developers, data engineers, security teams, and business stakeholders to analyze business requirements, participate in design sessions, and develop application features. Additionally, the Software Engineer IV provides technical leadership on assigned initiatives, leads the implementation of features and integrations from design through production release, mentors less experienced engineers, researches and addresses technical issues and requests, identifies root causes, resolves production problems, and ensures business applications are available for use 24x7 in production. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The position incumbent is expected to perform the following essential duties and responsibilities with reasonable accommodation. * Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain software features for web, mobile, AI, and legacy applications applying best coding practices and application standards. * Lead the technical implementation of assigned projects and features from requirements analysis and design through development, testing, and production release. * Provide technical status updates, risks, and recommendations to project stakeholders and Information Technology leadership. * Provide technical leadership, coordinate project activities, assign work and guide project teams and professionals to achieve objectives. * Develop and maintain REST APIs, microservices, and backend services using Java, Spring Boot, Spring Framework, Spring Security, Spring Data JPA, and Hibernate. * Build AI-enabled application features using Generative AI, LLMs, prompt engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. * Implement AI agents and agentic AI workflows using AI agent frameworks and orchestration tools to automate business processes, document analysis, knowledge retrieval, and decision support. * Integrate AI services and models into new and existing enterprise applications and third-party modules using Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Copilot technologies, and vector databases with semantic search. * Implement DevOps practices including Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD), containerization with Docker/Kubernetes, and deployment automation. * Participate in and lead peer code reviews, pair programming, application standards reviews, and application performance reviews using agile software development methodologies. * Research emerging technologies, including AI tools and frameworks, and propose solutions to improve processes and development productivity. * Provide ongoing support for business applications in production through on-call rotation. * Work in a team-oriented environment with flexibility to work independently. NON-ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES * Support Information Technology's vision, strategic direction, development, and future growth. * Support other functions and responsibilities of the department. * Contribute to the development of department and company strategic initiatives. * Assist with special projects as assigned. * Interact with all levels of management as necessary. * Must be available to work flexible hours. * All other duties and responsibilities as assigned. COMPETENCIES * Action Oriented * Business Insight * Collaborates * Communicates Effectively * Compliance * Customer Focus * Demonstrates Self-Awareness * Diversity Focused * Develops Talent * Resourcefulness * Self-Development * Situational Adaptability * Strategic Mindset * Tech Savvy KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES * Strong working experience with modern programming languages and frameworks (e.g., Java, Python, SQL, JavaScript/TypeScript, Spring Boot, Angular, React). * Spring Boot, Spring Framework, Spring Security, Spring Data JPA, Hibernate, Spring Integration, Maven, REST APIs, microservices, EJB. * HTML5, CSS, SCSS, JSP, Angular Framework, Node JS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, Oracle ADF Framework, Microsoft Apps,Android, Swift (native). * Working knowledge of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering, AI agents and agentic workflows, RAG architectures, NLP, embeddings, and basic model evaluation; awareness of AI governance, privacy, and responsible AI practices. * Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Copilot technologies, LangChain or equivalent agent/orchestration frameworks, vector databases, AI search and semantic search technologies. * AI code assistants, LLM APIs and SDKs, prompt and context management, and integration of AI services into enterprise applications. * Azure, AWS, or GCP; Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Maven, Git, SVN, Nexus, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud application integration and testing. * Proficient in deploying applications to servers (Oracle WebLogic, Tomcat) and integrating with databases (SQL Server, DB2, MySQL) * Strong ability to coordinate and facilitate across business areas and gain collaborative support at all organizational levels. * Strong organizational and planning skills with the ability to simultaneously handle multiple concurrent activities, resolve conflicting priorities, and meet development and production demands. * Demonstrated ability to effectively work with dynamic, cross-functional teams in support of corporate goals and objectives, and in the enhancement of the corporation's technology products, services, and capabilities. * Proficient in IDEs, build tools, as well as source code repositories. QUALIFICATIONS Education Required: * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field. Experience beyond the minimum work experience requirement can be substituted for degree on a year-for-year basis. Experience Required: * Five (5) years of experience delivering technology solutions across application development, cloud services, data platforms, automation, AI-enabled technologies, and related software tools. * Demonstrated experience developing, debugging, testing, deploying, and maintaining Java applications and RESTful web services. * Working proficiency with version control systems, agile methodologies, software design and diagramming, build and deployment tools, issue/bug tracking tools, data access tools, and SQL across relational and non-relational databases. * Hands-on experience with DevOps tooling such as Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Maven, Git, and Nexus, including CI/CD pipelines and cloud deployments (Azure, AWS, or GCP). * Experience building and delivering AI-enabled application features, including LLM integration, prompt engineering, RAG, or AI agent/workflow automation. Preferred: * Experience with Data Analytics and data transformation using extract, transformation, and load (ETL) tools. * Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Dynamics 365, or Dataverse. * Familiarity with migration of legacy systems (COBOL on z/OS) to modern technologies. * Experience in higher education or nonprofit technology environments. PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS * Occasionally must move about inside the office. * Repetitive motion. Regularly operates a computer, phone, and general office equipment. * Regularly required to handle, feel, grasp objects, and reach across a work area. * Regularly communicates with other employees and on the phone, virtually, or in person with clients. Regularly converses with internal and external contacts. * Visual acuity. Regularly must have close visual acuity to view and enter information into computer and software systems, analyze data, develop presentations and reports, and other materials. * Mental focus. Requires worker to maintain focus and exchange detailed and accurate information through oral and written communication. WORK ENVIRONMENT * Work may be conducted remotely or in an office with a surrounding small cubicle environment. * Office work environment is climate controlled with no substantial exposure to adverse environmental conditions. * Participates in rotating on-call support for web, mobile, and AI business applications. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS * Base Salary: $ 85,913.00-$132,174.00. 00 per year (commensurate with experience) * Corporate Annual Incentive: This position is eligible for a corporate annual incentive, subject to the discretion and approval of the Board of Directors and not guaranteed. * Paid Holidays: 11 holidays + 1 floating holiday per year * Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, and retirement plans.