Principal Backend Engineer, Payer Portal — Hybrid

Athenahealth, Inc.; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 164,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Commuter support

Employee assistance program

Tuition assistance

Employee resource groups

Dog-friendly offices

Job summary

athenahealth, Inc. in Boston is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for the Payer Portal. The role leads backend design and delivery for athenaCollector, partnering with product, architecture, and engineering to solve revenue cycle challenges using Java, Spring Boot, AWS, Kubernetes, and related technologies in a hybrid setup.

You will mentor engineers, drive production readiness, and help integrate AI-assisted development while aligning with architectural standards and business goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 12+ years of engineering experience in a product org.
• Deep backend experience with distributed systems.
• Strong Java and Spring Boot backend experience.
• Experience with AI coding assistants or agentic tools.
• Experience defining engineering standards and testing strategy.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, Oracle, AWS, Kubernetes, and Terraform; React preferred.
• Healthcare revenue cycle domain experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and delivery of backend software in an agile, cross-functional team.
• Ensure production readiness with testing, reliability, observability, and operations.
• Establish and improve engineering standards, code reviews, and test-driven development.
• Partner with product and engineering to surface risks and tradeoffs.
• Mentor engineers to grow into higher-impact contributors.
• Integrate AI coding assistants into workflows and establish responsible use norms.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Distributed systems

AWS

Kubernetes

AI tooling

PostgreSQL

Oracle

React

GitHub Copilot

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/ENG or related field

Equivalent practical experience

Tools

Claude Code

Codex

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Terraform

Job description

athenahealth, Inc. in Boston is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for the Payer Portal. The role leads backend design and delivery for athenaCollector, partnering with product, architecture, and engineering to solve revenue cycle challenges using Java, Spring Boot, AWS, Kubernetes, and related technologies in a hybrid setup.

You will mentor engineers, drive production readiness, and help integrate AI-assisted development while aligning with architectural standards and business goals.