Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer I

The Principal Software Engineer I is a senior technical leader responsible for advancing engineering practices, shaping technical direction, and driving the delivery of scalable, high-quality software solutions across multiple teams. This role collaborates with architects and engineering leadership to influence architectural decisions, align technical strategies, and enable the development of organization-wide solutions.

The Principal Software Engineer I provides technical leadership through mentoring, cross-team collaboration, and hands-on problem solving, guiding teams in addressing complex challenges and implementing best practices across the software development lifecycle. This role contributes to the continued evolution of engineering standards, technology platforms, and overall technical excellence across the organization.

This position is eligible for remote work, but quarterly travel will be required to Avalon's corporate office located in Tampa, Florida.

Principal Software Engineer I Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate closely with peers, architects, and engineering leadership to influence architectural direction, ensure consistency across systems, and align technical strategies with business objectives.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to engineering teams, helping to evaluate trade-offs, navigate complex technical challenges, and adopt best practices in system design, development, testing, and deployment.
• Lead by example through hands-on development, contributing to critical codebases and demonstrating best practices in software engineering.
• Facilitate technical discussions and design reviews across teams, ensuring alignment with architectural standards and long-term maintainability.
• Mentor and support engineers at all levels, fostering a culture of continuous learning, technical excellence, and inclusive collaboration.
• Occasionally step into project leadership roles, coordinating cross-team efforts, aligning timelines, and ensuring successful delivery of high-impact initiatives.
• Partner with product and design stakeholders to ensure technical feasibility, scalability, and alignment with user and business needs.
• Drive improvements in engineering processes, tooling, and standards to enhance team productivity, code quality, and system reliability.
• Contribute to the evolution of Avalon's engineering culture by championing innovation, knowledge sharing, and a growth mindset.

Principal Software Engineer I Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems, Computer Science, or related discipline; or the equivalent years of relevant business and technical experience.
• 8+ years

Technical Skills:

• Expert-level proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g., Java, Go, TypeScript), with emphasis on clean, maintainable, scalable code
• Deep understanding of relational and non-relational databases, including data modeling, query optimization, and performance-focused data access design
• Working knowledge of HL7 FHIR, including its use, constraints, and integration patterns across engineering, product, and partner teams
• Experience leveraging agentic AI across the SDLC (code generation, testing, documentation, workflows) to improve productivity, quality, and delivery velocity
• Advanced experience with Git and source control, including complex branching, conflict resolution, and best practice guidance
• Skilled in configuring and optimizing development environments and tools to support consistency, productivity, and adoption
• Extensive experience designing and integrating web services and APIs, including RESTful and event-driven architectures, with focus on scalability, observability, and security
• Proficient in Linux environments, including workflow automation, system configuration, and deployment pipeline support
• Strong background in Agile methodologies and the SDLC, including leading technical discussions, backlog refinement, and sprint planning across teams
• Hands-on experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) with focus on automation, testing, and deployment reliability
• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), including deployment, scaling, and monitoring
• Expertise in secure coding, performance tuning, and building resilient, fault-tolerant systems
• Proven ability to mentor engineers and foster technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous learning
• Experience influencing architectural decisions, including evaluating trade-offs, defining patterns, and aligning with enterprise standards
• Proficient in application design and system architecture, including creating and interpreting technical diagrams (e.g., context, sequence, data flow) to communicate design and system interactions

Soft Skills:

• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts across technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to influence technical direction and decision-making through collaboration, thought leadership, and deep expertise
• High level of autonomy with a proactive approach to driving improvements in team performance and system quality
• Strong analytical and systems-thinking capabilities to solve complex problems and guide effective solutions
• Demonstrates ownership and accountability for technical outcomes, including scalability, maintainability, and operational excellence
• Provides mentorship and fosters a culture of collaboration, inclusion, and continuous learning
• Facilitates cross-team alignment and leads technical discussions and execution across initiatives

Principal Software Engineer I Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing RESTful and event-driven services with strong focus on scalability, observability, versioning, and security
• Experience delivering production-grade HL7 FHIR applications and scalable healthcare APIs
• Expertise building and deploying cloud-native applications on AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Proficiency or leadership in front-end development using React or Next.js, including scalable, accessible UI design
• Expertise in languages such as Java, Go, or TypeScript for building performant, maintainable systems
• Experience with unit, integration, and end-to-end testing frameworks
• Experience designing CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices for reliable, secure delivery
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) including deployment and production reliability
• Experience in regulated environments with understanding of HIPAA, PHI, and IIHI
• Ability to lead through influence, including mentoring and driving architectural alignment
• Experience creating and interpreting architecture diagrams to guide system design and implementation