Principal Backend Engineer

TRANSFORM HEALTHCARE WITH US. At Qualified Health, we’re redefining what’s possible with Generative AI in healthcare. Our infrastructure provides the guardrails for safe AI governance, healthcare-specific agent creation, and real-time algorithm monitoring, working alongside leading health systems to drive real change. This is more than just a job. It’s an opportunity to build the future of AI in healthcare, solve complex challenges, and make a lasting impact on patient care. If you’re ambitious, innovative, and ready to move fast, we’d love to have you on board. JOB SUMMARY We’re looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to set the technical direction for our Gen AI for Healthcare SaaS platform. As one of the most senior technical leaders on our engineering team, you will define the architecture of our core services, raise the engineering bar across the organization, and partner with leadership to turn product strategy into a scalable, secure, and reliable platform. You’ll stay hands-on in the hardest problems while multiplying the impact of the engineers around you. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Own the architecture and long-term technical vision for our core platform services, ensuring they scale with customer growth and the demands of regulated healthcare environments - Lead the design and delivery of complex, cross-team initiatives from concept through production, making and documenting high-stakes technical trade-offs - Write and review critical code, setting standards for quality, maintainability, security, and performance - Drive our infrastructure automation, observability, monitoring, and alerting strategy, including reliability targets and incident response practices - Partner with product, security, compliance, and customer-facing teams to translate requirements into platform capabilities - Mentor and coach Senior and Staff engineers, and grow technical leadership across the team - Lead technical reviews, architecture decision processes, and the creation of durable technical documentation - Serve as a senior escalation point for complex production issues, leading root cause analysis and systemic fixes - Evaluate emerging technologies in the Gen AI ecosystem and make build-versus-buy recommendations - Contribute to engineering planning, helping to scope, sequence, and de-risk major milestones and deliverables REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS - Demonstrated track record of designing, shipping, and operating a generative AI application or platform in production at scale - Deep expertise in Python, with working proficiency in TypeScript or Java and hands-on experience with a modern compiled language such as Go or Rust - Proven experience architecting distributed systems, microservices, and RESTful APIs that are secure, resilient, and observable - Deep hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and infrastructure as code (Terraform) - Strong command of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring and observability tooling - Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker and Kubernetes) in production environments - History of technical leadership that extends beyond your own code: leading cross-team efforts, influencing architecture decisions, and mentoring other engineers - Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineers, executives, and customers - Strong problem-solving skills and sound judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments - Able to work on-site in our Palo Alto offices 3 days per week DESIRABLE SKILLS - Significant experience with GCP, and working familiarity with all three major cloud providers - Experience with AI/ML platforms and frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.), including LLM serving, evaluation, and monitoring - Experience building platforms in regulated environments (HIPAA, SOC 2, or similar) - Familiarity with front-end technologies (React, Angular, Vue.js) - Previous experience in the healthcare industry - Experience as an early engineering team member at a high-growth company, helping establish technical foundations and engineering culture WHY JOIN QUALIFIED HEALTH? This is an opportunity to join a fast-growing company and a world-class team that is poised to change the healthcare industry. We are a passionate, mission-driven team building a category-defining product. We are backed by premier investors and are looking for founding team members who are excited to do the best work of their careers. Our employees are integral to achieving our goals, so we are proud to offer competitive salaries with equity packages, robust medical/dental/vision insurance, flexible working hours, hybrid work options, and an inclusive environment that fosters creativity and innovation. OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY Qualified Health is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace is essential to our success, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we live in. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, disability, or veteran status. Pay & Benefits The pay range for this role is between $230,000 and $280,000, and will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. This role is also eligible for equity and benefits. Join our mission to revolutionize healthcare with AI. To apply, please send your resume through the application below.