About Alaffia & Our Mission
Every year, U.S. health plans lose billions to improper payments and administrative waste. That wasted spending ultimately trickles down across the healthcare ecosystem, driving up costs for plans, providers, and patients alike. We're here to change that paradigm.
Alaffia is a new kind of claims operations partner for health plans. Using expert clinicians and transparent AI, we deliver deeper insights, smarter automation, and consistently better outcomes across the entire lifecycle of claims. With Alaffia, health plans can cut wasted spending more effectively than ever, and provide their members the most affordable care.
We're a high-growth, venture-backed Series B healthtech startup based in NYC and are actively scaling our company. Join us in helping to build a healthcare system that works better for everyone.
(This position requires current authorization to work in the United States. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to sponsor work visas at this time.)
About the Role
We're looking for a Staff Backend Engineer to solve complex, cross-team technical challenges, set architectural direction, and act as a force multiplier across our engineering org. You'll translate strategic goals into technical roadmaps, lead execution, and champion AI-augmented development practices.
You'll be tasked with scaling our GenAI applications, all while tackling challenging problems in backend architecture, system design, and cloud infrastructure.
Note on language: this role will work primarily in either Python or TypeScript, depending on team need. You don't need extensive experience (or any experience) in either language specifically, what matters most is strong, transferable backend engineering fundamentals with the ability to pick up new languages and tooling as needed. We'll find the right fit for your background on our team.
What You'll Do
Architect and own delivery of complex, high-impact backend systems spanning multiple teams
Set technical direction and coding/design standards for backend development across the org
Design, develop, and deploy data-intensive applications in a production environment
Drive AI coding tool adoption (Claude Code); establish best practices and measure productivity gains
Mentor senior engineers and influence technical decisions without formal authority
Partner cross-functionally with fullstack, data, DevOps, and AI engineers, as well as product and business teams, to craft a feature-rich, GenAI-powered claim review platform
Own testing strategy, system health, observability, and build-vs-buy decisions for critical infrastructure
What We're Looking For
10+ years of software engineering experience, with a track record of leading complex, high-impact backend projects at scale, including large-scale, production-level API development and backend data processing
Hands-on experience with relational databases and data model design
Strong system design and cloud infrastructure experience (AWS preferred), including CI/CD, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and observability practices such as logging, user activity metrics, and integration with Datadog or similar tooling
Demonstrated success adopting AI coding assistants to improve team productivity
Excellent communication skills and experience mentoring senior engineers
Preferred
Building SaaS apps in the healthcare sector
Experience shipping user-facing AI products or AI/ML model deployment
Building SDKs or libraries
Experience with vector databases
Experience with data processing orchestrators, such as Airflow or Dagster
Experience with message queue systems, such as AWS SQS, Kinesis, or Kafka
GraphQL and PostgreSQL experience
Open source contributions or technical publications
Our Culture
Alaffia was born out of our founders' personal connection to the inefficiency of the U.S. healthcare system. We are deeply mission-driven, with an abiding belief that technology can help create a better future for everyone, and we're looking for others who share our passion for change to join the team.
What Else Do You Get?
Competitive compensation package (cash + equity)
Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
Flexible, paid vacation policy
Work in a flat organizational structure, direct access to Leadership
Skills Required
- Current authorization to work in the United States
- 10+ years of software engineering experience
- Experience leading complex, high-impact backend projects at scale
- Large-scale production API development and backend data processing experience
- Hands-on experience with relational databases and data model design
- Strong system design and cloud infrastructure experience, preferably AWS
- Experience with CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes, and observability practices
- Experience adopting AI coding assistants to improve team productivity
- Excellent communication skills and experience mentoring senior engineers
- Experience building SaaS applications in healthcare
- Experience shipping user-facing AI products or deploying AI/ML models
- Experience building SDKs or libraries
- Experience with vector databases
- Experience with Airflow or Dagster
- Experience with AWS SQS, Kinesis, or Kafka
- GraphQL and PostgreSQL experience
- Open source contributions or technical publications
Alaffia Health Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Feedback suggests employer-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for employees are a standout feature, with coverage consistently cited across the company’s materials and third-party listings. Some notes indicate contributions toward dependents, adding to perceived value even without full plan details.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Feedback suggests flexible/unlimited PTO and generous parental leave are repeatedly advertised and echoed by external profiles. These policies are viewed as modern and supportive, though exact parental-leave duration is not publicly specified.
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Retirement Support — Feedback suggests a 401(k) available from day one with traditional and Roth options enhances total rewards. Immediate eligibility is convenient, even though any employer match is not publicly disclosed.
Alaffia Health Insights
What We Do
Every year, U.S. health plans lose billions to improper payments and administrative waste. That wasted spending ultimately trickles down across the healthcare ecosystem, driving up costs for plans, providers, and patients alike. We’re here to change that paradigm. Alaffia is a new kind of claims operations partner for health plans. Using expert clinicians and transparent AI, we deliver deeper insights, smarter automation, and consistently better outcomes across the entire claims lifecycle. With Alaffia, health plans can cut wasted spending more effectively than ever and provide their members the most affordable care. We’re a high-growth, venture-backed Series B healthtech startup based in NYC and are actively scaling our company. Join us in helping to build a healthcare system that works better for everyone.
Gallery
Alaffia Health Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
We have a recognize the varying needs of our employees and have designed a location-based policy, offering flexibility while ensuring that the hybrid work model supports both individual and company success.
