Senior Backend Software Engineer IV

Vida Health; United States; Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Vida Health is seeking a highly skilled Backend Software Engineer IV to design and scale indispensable backend services that enhance member journeys. You will work with cutting-edge technology in Python, Django, PostgreSQL, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to develop AI-driven member features.

The ideal candidate should have over 7 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree. You will have the opportunity to lead architectural design, mentor peers, and drive engineering excellence in a rapidly evolving setting.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional engineering experience leading technical projects.
• Deep expertise in Python and Django, maintaining large-scale production applications.
• Strong experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Terraform.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural design for new backend systems and APIs.
• Design robust REST APIs for web and mobile applications.
• Manage cloud infrastructure on GCP and use Terraform.

Skills

Python

Django

PostgreSQL

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Docker

Kubernetes

SQL

Terraform

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

BigQuery

dbt

Job description

About Us

At Vida, we help people get better – and we're helping the healthcare system get better, too. Vida is a virtual, personalized obesity care provider that uses evidence‑based treatment to help patients manage obesity and related conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression. Our team of Obesity Medicine‑Certified Physicians, Registered Dietitians, Expert Coaches, and Licensed Therapists takes a whole‑person approach to care, helping people lose weight, reduce stress, and improve overall health. By combining advanced technology with top‑notch healthcare providers, Vida breaks down the barriers that have historically kept people from getting the best care. It is trusted by Fortune 100 companies, major national payers, and large providers to enable their employees to live their healthiest lives.

Role Overview

Vida Health is looking for a highly skilled Backend Software Engineer IV to design, build, and scale the foundational backend services that power Vida’s member experiences. As a Level IV engineer on the Member Applications team, you will focus on the core APIs, data interactions, and cloud infrastructure that drive daily member engagement. You will own complex technical initiatives end‑to‑end, working deeply with Python, Django, PostgreSQL, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). As we restructure our data layer, you will leverage a hybrid architecture (PostgreSQL, BigQuery, and dbt) to build highly responsive, personalized, and AI‑driven member features. You will mentor peers, evolve our infrastructure as code (Terraform), and ensure a resilient, scalable backend that delivers a premium member journey.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural design and technical strategy for new backend systems, microservices, and scalable member‑facing APIs.
• Design robust, versioned REST APIs that seamlessly power cross‑platform web and mobile (React Native) member applications.
• Evaluate trade‑offs in system design, ensuring high availability, security, and low latency for a growing healthcare platform.
• Evolve database models, schemas, and indexing strategies in PostgreSQL to support complex, high‑throughput application logic.
• Write clean, performant, and highly testable code primarily in Python and Django.
• Provision, manage, and optimize cloud infrastructure on GCP—including IAM and Compute—utilizing Terraform.
• Manage containerized deployments and orchestrate services using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Implement and refine asynchronous event‑driven systems (e.g., Celery, Pub/Sub) to handle application workflows and notifications.
• Utilize AI‑assisted development tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate delivery and maintain high engineering velocity.
• Architect application‑level data access patterns that efficiently interact with the new data layer, pulling from both operational databases (PostgreSQL) and analytical warehouses (BigQuery transformed via dbt).
• Collaborate on and utilize dbt models to ensure backend applications consume well‑structured, tested, and documented analytical data.
• Optimize complex BigQuery and SQL queries to ensure low‑latency data retrieval for personalized, member‑facing features.
• Partner with Data Engineering and AI teams to seamlessly consume structured data and models that drive smart, automated member interactions in the app.
• Drive a culture of operational excellence by defining and monitoring SLAs, SLOs, and SLIs for member‑facing services.
• Implement advanced monitoring, alerting, and logging using Datadog, GCP Cloud Monitoring, and distributed tracing tools.
• Lead root‑cause analysis (RCA) for complex production incidents and implement permanent architectural safeguards.
• Serve as a technical mentor to mid‑level engineers, elevating the team’s capabilities in system design, Python best practices, and cloud architecture.
• Champion rigorous engineering standards, including code review practices, comprehensive documentation, and automated testing strategies.
• Partner closely with Product, Design, and React Native frontend teams to deliver seamless, secure, and compliant end‑to‑end member experiences.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree at a minimum.
• 7+ years of professional engineering experience with a proven track record of leading technical projects and cross‑functional initiatives.
• Deep, senior‑level expertise in Python and the Django framework, with a proven track record of maintaining large‑scale production applications.
• Exceptional system design skills, with the ability to architect reliable, distributed backend services that power mobile and web clients.
• Strong hands‑on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Proven experience defining and managing infrastructure as code using Terraform.
• Hands‑on experience with Google BigQuery and dbt (specifically around query optimization, utilizing dbt models in application code, and integrating analytical data into application backends).
• Deep knowledge of containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and relational database architecture, specifically PostgreSQL.
• Strong understanding of observability, profiling, and performance tuning in production environments.
• Excellent technical communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex architectural decisions to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Preferred

• Experience using AI‑powered development tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot).
• Experience in the healthcare industry or other highly regulated environments (HIPAA, SOC2 compliance).
• Experience integrating AI/LLM models or working alongside Data Science teams to build user‑facing AI features.
• Hands‑on experience with asynchronous task queues and messaging brokers (Celery, Redis, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub).
• Familiarity with building automation hooks and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.).

Salary

$170,000 - $180,000 a year

EEO Statement

Vida is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. Diversity is more than a commitment at Vida—it is the foundation of what we do. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Vida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures.