Staff Software Engineer

Foodsmart; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-First Culture

Unlimited PTO

Comprehensive Healthcare

401k & performance bonuses

Personalized Nutrition

Job summary

Foodsmart is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to design and scale backend and data systems powering our consumer experiences, clinical workflows, and partner integrations. You will lead through technical excellence, architecture ownership, and collaboration with product, data, and engineering leadership.

You will mentor engineers, drive cross-team initiatives, and ensure HIPAA-aware, secure, and highly available systems.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience in production.
• Strong TypeScript, React, and REST API skills.
• Experience with scalable backend systems on AWS.
• Ability to mentor engineers and influence architecture.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-team full stack initiatives across web, mobile, and backend.
• Own architecture reviews, RFCs, and design decisions.
• Mentor and grow senior and mid-level engineers.
• Partner with product, data, and security teams to ensure HIPAA-aligned designs.

Skills

8+ years exp

TypeScript

React

React Native

REST APIs

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

SQL & NoSQL

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Job description

About us:

Foodsmart is the leading telenutrition and foodcare solution, backed by a robust network of Registered Dietitians. Our platform is designed to foster healthier food choices, drive lasting behavior change, and deliver long-term health outcomes. Through our highly personalized, digital platform, we guide our 2.2 million members—including those in employer-sponsored health plans, regional and national Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans, and commercial insurers—on a tailored journey to eating well while saving time and money.

Foodsmart seamlessly integrates dietary assessments and nutrition counseling with online food ordering and cost-effective meal planning for the entire family, optimizing ingredients both at home and on the go. We partner with national and regional retailers across the U.S., many of whom accept SNAP/EBT, making healthier food more accessible. Additionally, we assist members with SNAP enrollment and management, providing tangible access to nutritious food. In 2024, Foodsmart secured a $200 million investment from TPG’s Rise Fund, which supports entrepreneurs dedicated to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This investment will help us expand our reach, particularly to low-income workers who are disproportionately affected by diet-related diseases.

At Foodsmart, our mission is to make nutritious food accessible and affordable for everyone, regardless of economic status. We are committed to a set of core values that shape our culture and work environment:

• Customer First - You start with the member and work backwards.
• Make It Happen - You act with urgency, use data, and hold high standards.
• One Team - You collaborate with respect and commit as a group.

Whether you're a dietitian, a commercial leader, or a technologist, working at Foodsmart means being part of a team that is passionate, supportive, and driven by a shared purpose. Join us in transforming the way people access and enjoy healthy food.

About the role:

As a Staff Engineer at Foodsmart, you are a senior technical leader responsible for designing and scaling critical backend and data systems that power our consumer experiences, clinical workflows, and partner integrations. This is not a people-manager role. You will lead through technical excellence, architecture ownership, and influence across teams. You will partner closely with product, data, and engineering leadership to build resilient, secure, and scalable systems that meet enterprise and healthcare-grade requirements. You are expected to operate beyond a single team’s scope, drive cross-team technical initiatives, and elevate engineering quality and standards across the organization.

You will

• Full Stack Architecture & Platform Design: Own and evolve end-to-end architecture across frontend (web), mobile, backend services, and data platforms. Design scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems supporting millions of users and sensitive healthcare data. Define and drive adoption of architectural patterns across frontend, backend, and mobile teams. Lead design reviews and author RFCs for complex initiatives spanning multiple teams. Ensure systems meet enterprise-grade requirements for availability, performance, observability, and compliance.
• Frontend Engineering (Web): Build modern web applications using React and TypeScript. Define frontend architectural standards (state management, API patterns, component structure, performance, accessibility). Partner with design and product to deliver high-quality user experiences with strong UX consistency. Drive improvements in frontend performance, reliability, and maintainability.
• Mobile Engineering (iOS / Android / React Native): Contribute to and influence architecture for Foodsmart’s mobile applications. Collaborate on mobile-specific patterns including offline support, caching, push notifications, deep linking, analytics, and app release workflows. Ensure mobile experiences are secure, performant, and consistent with backend and web platforms. Partner with mobile engineers to define shared API and integration standards. Improve mobile developer velocity through tooling, testing strategies, and CI/CD best practices.
• Backend & Data Engineering: Design and maintain high-performance APIs (REST and event-based) serving web, mobile, and partner integrations. Build durable SQL and NoSQL data models with strong reliability and scalability guarantees. Develop backend systems using TypeScript / Node.js and AWS-native services (Lambda, SQS, RDS, DynamoDB, EC2). Lead data modeling decisions, migrations, and long-term maintainability improvements. Partner with security and compliance teams to implement HIPAA-aware and privacy-first designs.
• AI-Enabled Engineering Practices: Champion AI-assisted workflows across design, implementation, testing, and DevOps. Help establish guardrails and best practices for responsible AI usage across engineering. Identify opportunities to embed AI/ML capabilities into product systems (e.g., personalization, automation, workflow optimization). Improve engineering velocity using AI tooling without compromising quality, security, or compliance.
• DevOps, Reliability & Scalability: Drive cloud-native architecture practices using Docker and Kubernetes. Partner with DevOps to strengthen CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and deployment safety. Establish best practices for observability, alerting, incident response, and postmortems. Proactively identify and mitigate scalability, performance, and reliability risks across web, mobile, and backend.
• Cross-Team Influence & Delivery Leadership: Collaborate with product, design, data, clinical, and business teams to translate complex requirements into scalable technical solutions. Influence roadmap decisions through strong technical insight and execution planning. Lead cross-team initiatives, ensuring alignment on architecture, delivery sequencing, and long-term maintainability. Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mentorship & Engineering Excellence: Mentor senior and mid-level engineers on system design, technical decision-making, and full stack best practices. Raise engineering standards through code reviews, design feedback, and technical coaching. Promote shared ownership and a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement. Drive adoption of shared libraries, patterns, and platform capabilities across teams.

You have

• Experience & Scope: 8+ years of software engineering experience, including meaningful ownership of full stack systems in production environments. Demonstrated success leading complex initiatives across frontend, backend, and/or mobile domains. Experience influencing architecture and technical direction beyond a single team.
• Full Stack Technical Expertise: Strong hands-on experience with TypeScript across both backend and frontend systems. Deep experience building modern web applications using React. Experience working with mobile applications (native iOS/Android and/or React Native). Strong understanding of frontend performance optimization, accessibility, and scalable UI architecture. Strong experience designing and operating RESTful APIs and event-driven architectures. Advanced knowledge of SQL (PostgreSQL/MySQL) and familiarity with NoSQL systems. Strong AWS experience (Lambda, SQS, RDS, DynamoDB, EC2, IAM, networking). Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts (consistency, caching, concurrency, fault tolerance). Experience with Docker and Kubernetes in production environments.
• Engineering Leadership Skills: Strong understanding of SDLC, Agile methodologies, CI/CD, QA automation, and DevOps best practices. Proven ability to lead through influence rather than authority. Clear, structured communicator capable of explaining complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders. Track record of driving adoption of shared standards, platforms, or engineering best practices.
• Bonus / Nice to Have: Experience in healthcare, fintech, or other regulated domains. Experience with HIPAA compliance, PHI security, and privacy-first design. Exposure to low-code platforms like Retool. Experience with cloud data warehouses (e.g., Redshift). Experience working with globally distributed teams. Experience building design systems or shared UI component libraries.
• Signals of Success: Delivery of high-impact, cross-team full stack initiatives (web + mobile + backend). Adoption of architecture and platform patterns you introduce across teams. Measurable improvements in system scalability, reliability, and developer productivity. Strong mentorship impact across senior and mid-level engineers. Recognized as a trusted technical leader and partner across product, design, and engineering. Improved quality, stability, and user experience across Foodsmart’s web and mobile applications.

$180,000 - $200,000 a year

Role: Staff Software Engineer

Location: Remote

Base Salary Range: $180,000 - $200,000 per year

Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries at our headquarters in San Francisco, California. Individual pay is determined by work location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Benefits & Perks

• Remote-First Culture — Work from anywhere with a flexible schedule.
• Unlimited PTO — We prioritize rest and recharging.
• Comprehensive Healthcare — Robust medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Financial Wellness — 401k & performance bonuses
• Personalized Nutrition — Access to our network of Registered Dietitians.

Foodsmart is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class.