Applications Developer I

The Applications Developer I offers an opportunity to work alongside a seasoned team of IT professionals and student developers supporting Housing and Dining Services (HDS), a large and complex department dedicated to providing high-quality services that strengthen the student experience at Kansas State University.
This position contributes to the goals and strategies for HDS web-based applications and works collaboratively with service-oriented, passionate professionals across the department. Projects provide opportunities to apply technical skills, develop creative and practical solutions, and interact with a broad customer base. The position also provides opportunities to mentor student developers and contribute to the ongoing improvement, security, and effectiveness of HDS technology services.
Duties and Responsibilities
Application Support
* Assist with the administration and support of web-based and client applications in a distributed, multi-server environment.
* Monitor web-based applications for problems, outdated information, and adherence to established standards; provide reports and recommendations to management.
* Recommend site enhancements and identify solutions to application and technical problems.
* Evaluate new project requests and design, build, code, test, deploy, and maintain applications.
* Apply software development best practices, design patterns, and coding standards.
* Mentor student programming staff in software design patterns, coding guidelines, and development practices.
Customer Support
* Serve as a primary contact regarding the use of departmental web-based applications; answer questions and diagnose and resolve customer issues.
* Educate customers on accessibility, application standards, current technologies, and new web technologies.
* Develop methods and tools to facilitate web-based application maintenance for customers.
* Develop online and printed documentation for departmental web-based applications.
* Serve as a customer advocate in application planning and development processes.
* Collaborate with the HDS Helpdesk (ResNet) and/or K-State IT Helpdesk to track customer issues and resolutions and measure customer satisfaction.
Team Development
* Assist with mentoring, training, hiring, and evaluating a multi-person web development team consisting of hourly student staff.
* Participate in establishing goals and coordinating strategies for developing and supporting HDS web-based applications.
* Make measurable contributions to software development projects and team initiatives.
Enterprise Security
* Provide innovative suggestions to improve existing processes and implement new security measures that strengthen the enterprise security posture.
* Participate as a team member in implementing new or updated security measures.
* Monitor compliance with information security policies and procedures and appropriately refer concerns.

The Department of Housing and Dining Services offers award-winning dining centers, residence halls, and apartment neighborhoods. We pride ourselves in taking excellent care of our residents, and that is reflected in our recent Princeton Review rankings. The 2025 Princeton Review ranks us #2 Happiest Students, #2 Best Quality of Life, #8 Best College Residence Halls, and #14 Best Campus Food.
From fostering community in our residence halls, to serving up delicious home cooked meals in the dining centers, and teaching responsibility and leadership through student employment throughout our department, Housing and Dining strives for residents to have a well-rounded and positive experience living on-campus. Functional areas within the department include administrative, maintenance, student living, and dining services.

This position is On-site.

All employees must reside in the United States when they begin working to comply with state law. K-State is unable to provide remote or hybrid work opportunities for residents of the state of Idaho.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Requires a high school diploma (or equivalent) and six years of relevant experience. Requirements may be met through a combination of work experience and education.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in MIS, CIS, business administration or related field.
• Three years' experience as an application developer or web developer.
• Knowledge of the use of usability good practice and standards and testing in web application development.
• Strong understanding of relational databases with ability to write complex and efficient SQL
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Technical writing /user documentation experience.
• Knowledge of Software Development Life Cycle concepts.
• Demonstrated skills of of project management; research, planning, development, implementation and support.
• Experience building relationships with end-users, Tier 2 technical teams, and the Tier 1 support teams.
• Familiarity with linux and windows server platforms, apache, IIS, mysql, php, javascript, java, ASP .NET, xhtml, css, web standards design.
• Experience building applications with jQuery and JavaScript libraries.
• Experience working with databases and writing SQL queries.
• Experience troubleshooting web-based application development.
• Ability to consult with clients about their business goals and propose web-based solutions and strategies that match their needs.
• Ability to document functional specifications and communicate them to both technical and non-technical staff.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills

Sponsorship eligibility:

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. on an ongoing basis without sponsorship

Please submit the following documents:

• Letter of interest
• Resume
• Names and contact information for three professional references

Applications close on: October 5, 2026

$22.83 - $28.00 per hour