Senior Backend Engineer

Senior Backend EngineerOur company is a start-up that specializes in episodes of care benefit plans. We have a deep expertise in episode pricing and analytics and our goal is to bring transparency and efficiency to the healthcare market. Our company is committed to providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to our customers.Role DescriptionThe Senior Backend Engineer will lead the design and implementation of high-scale, serverless backend services using AWS, Python, Relational and NoSQL database, and modern architectural designs. You'll own systems end-to-end, from design, development, and testing, through deployment, monitoring, and ongoing improvements. You will collaborate with engineering, analytics, product, and operations teams to build data pipelines, APIs, event-driven workflows, and durable processing engines that are foundational to delivering an exceptional, predictable healthcare experience. This role owns services end-to-end—from architecture and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement—ensuring reliability, performance, and security for mission-critical healthcare workflows.ResponsibilitiesArchitecture and System DesignDesign and build large-scale, resilient, serverless systems using AWS Lambda, API Gateway, SQS, SNS, DynamoDB, Step Functions, EventBridge, and Kafka.Architect durable, fault-tolerant workflows for claims processing, episode generation, eligibility updates, communication engines, and other core healthcare processes.Create and evolve backend APIs for both B2C (member portal) and B2B (payer, employer, provider) integrations.Engineering and ImplementationDevelop high-quality backend services in Python, following strict test-driven development (TDD) practices.Build clean, well-structured codebases emphasizing maintainability, testability, reliability, and scalability.Implement secure data flows and storage patterns aligned with HIPAA and healthcare compliance best practices.Data and Healthcare StandardsWork with structured and semi-structured healthcare data (for example, eligibility, claims, and clinical data).Partner with Analytics and Data Engineering to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and fidelity.Operational ExcellenceOwn systems end to end: development, testing, deployment, monitoring, and iteration.Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and observability dashboards.Continuously improve reliability through canaries, alarms, automated rollback, and well-designed SLOs.Collaboration and LeadershipDrive cross-functional architectural discussions and propose scalable, long-term solutions.Mentor and hire engineers, raising the bar for engineering culture, coding standards, and system design thinking.Work closely with product to refine requirements, define technical specs, and deliver high-value features.Qualifications7+ years of backend engineering experience, with a proven track record of shipping and operating production-grade systems.Expert-level proficiency in AWS serverless, including Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, Step Functions, Kafka/SQS, and event-driven architectures.Strong Python engineering fundamentals, including TDD, dependency injection, modular code, and clean design patterns.Deep understanding of high-scale system design, distributed computing, data modeling, fault tolerance, and observability.Experience building B2C and B2B systems that serve thousands of users and millions of transactions.Proficiency with PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, RDS, Kafka, caching strategies, and database schema design.Strong experience building scalable, public-facing RESTful APIs.Strong ownership mindset and a passion for delivering high-quality, reliable systems from design to production.Experience collaborating with SecOps, DevOps, and analytics teams, with comfort using GitHub Actions, IaC, and automated pipelines.Excellent verbal and written communication skills and cross-functional collaboration abilities.Bonus: Experience with healthcare EDI standards (837/834), payer systems, claims processing, HIPAA compliance, or health-tech domain work.