Senior Backend Software Engineer IV

Vida; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Vida is seeking a highly skilled Backend Software Engineer IV to design and scale the backend services that power member experiences. You will work with core APIs and cloud infrastructure, and take ownership of complex technical initiatives end-to-end.

As a key technical leader, you will mentor peers and evolve the infrastructure to ensure a resilient, scalable backend. If you possess 7+ years of experience in engineering and a passion for healthcare technology, we invite you to apply.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional engineering experience with a proven track record of leading technical projects.
• Deep expertise in Python and the Django framework.
• Exceptional system design skills for reliable backend services.

Responsibilities

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

Skills

Python

Django

PostgreSQL

Google Cloud Platform

Docker

Kubernetes

SQL

AI-assisted development tools

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Terraform

BigQuery

dbt

Job description

Backend Software Engineer IV

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 how members interact with our platform on a daily basis.

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 play a critical role in efficiently leveraging our hybrid data architecture (PostgreSQL, BigQuery, and dbt) to build highly responsive, personalized, and AI-driven member features. You will be a key technical leader, mentoring peers, evolving our infrastructure as code (Terraform), and ensuring 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 (Infrastructure as Code).
• 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 our newly restructured data layer, pulling from both operational databases (PostgreSQL) and analytical warehouses (BigQuery transformed via dbt).
• Collaborate on and utilize dbt (data build tool) 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 working 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.
• 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.).
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. and reside in the U.S.; U.S. citizenship or permanent residency required.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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.

We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. We don’t just accept differences—we celebrate them, we support them, and we thrive on them for the benefit of our employees, our platform and those we serve. Vida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures.