Associate Software Engineer - Direct College Hire

Department:

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

Our Technology Direct College Hire Program is a pathway for recent college graduates and individuals who are early in their technology careers to begin their professional growth journey. Through this program, we aim to help you develop lasting relationships while creating a meaningful career through on-the-job mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities. We welcome emerging Technology professionals to our upcoming January, June, or August 2025 cohorts.  

All of Southwest’s People come together to deliver on our Purpose; Connecting People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. This Associate Software Engineer delivers on our Purpose by designing, coding, testing, documenting, and implementing well-integrated application systems in accordance with Customer requirements and standards. This role is involved in an agile environment with continuous deployment to ensure technology operates as expected. The Associate Software Engineer is a detail-oriented thinker, who is ready to drive the future of Southwest’s Technology.    

Additional Details: 

This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for training, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in a remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is a limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.  

U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available. 

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We continue to look for opportunities to reflect the communities we serve, and welcome applicants with diverse thoughts, backgrounds, and experiences. 

You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process.

The Software Engineer selected would be for one of the following teams:

Field Services: 

The Field Services Engineering Team focuses on developing solutions to business problems that affect all SWA stations. This unique Team gets to work on projects, such as improved time-keeping tracking tools for the organization. While working on this Team, you'll have the opportunity to get mentored by Senior Developers to hit the ground running to produce stories and features. 

Infrastructure: 

The Technology Infrastructure Engineering Team focuses on serving the needs of the Technology Department. This Team gets the pleasure of creating unique technology solutions to automate tasks to reduce risk and free up time for Engineers. If you enjoy making your fellow engineers work experience, this is the Team for you. 

Air Operations: 

The Flight Planning Integration Team is responsible for managing the SWA Cloud SaaS Flight Planning system. This system is critical to the day-to-day operation of the business, which impacts the dispatching of our SWA fleet and Crews. The Team serves our Customers by ensuring the published flight plans and operational data flow downstream to our internal Customers. 

Crew Operations: 

The Crew Bid & Award team focuses on the cutting-edge work of Southwest AWS implementations having recently implemented the Vacation Bid and Award application for all Flight Attendants. This application and Team will be the foundation of extending vacation bids and awards to pilots to monthly line bidding for Flight Attendants and Pilots.  

Technology & Ground Operations: 

The Technology & Ground Operations Team is the closest you can get to the metal as possible without being on the Tarmac, this Team works on applications that keep our operations running smoothly 24/7. If you like a fast pace, and like seeing how SWA operates behind the scenes and how we are connected through Technology this is the Team for you.

Responsibilities

• Apply knowledge and skills of software development and testing to solve a range of problem
• Leverage knowledge to inform technical and non-technical requirements to apply to Business domain fundamentals
• Maintain understanding of current technologies or programming practices through continuing education, reading, or participation in professional conferences, workshops, or groups
• Troubleshoot program and system malfunctions to restore normal functioning across environments, including production
• Evaluate code to ensure that it is valid, is properly structured, and meets industry standards
• Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints
• Contribute to Team-level technical discussion and decisions and identify opportunities for Team improvement
• Follow agile delivery processes to drive work and has a sense of urgency about getting work completed
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Proficient knowledge of software development methodologies, practices, concepts, and technologies
• Ability to apply knowledge and skills of software development and testing to solve a range of problems
• Proficient knowledge of at least one required programming language
• Ability to communicate and negotiate with various Technology or partner Teams
• Ability to analyze large, complex, and vague Business or technical problems, articulating the problem or root cause, and translating the analysis into viable solution recommendations
• Ability to take on multiple assignments, whether administrative or project related, while maintaining a successful level of completion in all responsible workAbility to develop, present and effectively communicate ideas and strategies to a variety of audiences

Education

• Required: High School Diploma or GED
• Required: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, or Information Systems, or related field; or equivalent formal training
• Preferred: An upcoming or recent college graduate with a degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems or related field

Experience

• Required: Entry level experience, developing skills and knowledge in software engineering
• Preferred experience with React, AWS, Java, Python, Postgres, OpenShift, Docker, DevOps, Agile/Scrum, and GitLab
• Preferred: Knowledge of Basic DevSecOps/Agile, Secure Code Development, CI/CD  
• Preferred: Knowledge of AWS Lambdas, Python, EventBridge, Kafka, RabbitMQ, DynamoDB, Java, and S3 

Licensing/Certification

• N/A
• Physical Abilities
• Ability to perform work duties from [limited space work station/desk/office area] for extended periods of time
• Ability to communicate and interact with others in the English language to meet the demands of the job
• Ability to use a computer and other office productivity tools with sufficient speed and accuracy to meet the demands of the job

Other Qualifications

• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per Company appearance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be able to comply with Company attendance standards as described in established guidelines

Pay & Benefits

Competitive market salary from $84,350 per year to $93,700 per year* depending on qualifications and experience. For eligible Leadership and individual contributor roles, additional bonus opportunities are available and awarded at the discretion of the company.

Benefits you’ll love

• Fly for free, as a privilege, on any open seat on all Southwest flights (your eligible dependents too)
• Up to a 9.3% 401(k) Company match, dollar for dollar, of your eligible pay, per paycheck **
• Potential for annual Profit Sharing contribution toward retirement - when Southwest profits, you profit***

Explore more Benefits you’ll love: swa.is/Benefit

• *Pay amount does not guarantee employment for any particular period of time.
• **401(k) match contributions are subject to the plan’s vesting schedule and applicable IRS limits
• ***Profit Sharing contributions are subject to plan’s vesting schedule and are made at the discretion of the Company.

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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