Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack/Back End)

Join our winning team, recently honored as #67 on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Startup Employers for 2024!

The Helper Bees (THB) was created to fill an obvious need in an underserved community. Inspired by love and brought to reality through passion and determination, The Helper Bees was founded to empower older adult citizens and their families in their search for quality, affordable in-home care providers. We do this by providing older adults the ability to easily review, choose, and access affordable quality in-home helpers.

The Helper Bees mission is to help people stay home longer through data-driven services that transform both the payer and the care-recipient experience.

At THB, we define our company culture through our Core Values:

• Quickly iterate through solutions - We move at a fast pace which requires quick iterations to find a path to a repeatable solution
• Seek ways to create immediate impact - Be thoughtful and proactive in how you make an impact on your team. Actively look for ways to make a fast, positive impact.
• Bee the teammate you want to work with - We work as a team, help each other and encourage each other
• Ask questions, answer questions - You can't iterate through solutions if you don't ask the right questions which is why there is an expectation that questions should be asked. When you know the answer, being a good teammate means chiming in to get others up to speed.
• Take the time to celebrate wins - It's so easy for a team that is heads down to forget about all the great things they've accomplished. That's why we make it a priority to remind ourselves to create space to celebrate wins, big or small.

Job Summary:

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will help establish and evolve backend patterns and service architecture that enable our growing team to deliver value rapidly and reliably. We maintain multiple SaaS products through our web applications (internal and external facing), a mobile app, and reporting integrations. At The Helper Bees, you will guide technical decisions, mentor others, and help establish practices that enable teams to iterate quickly while maintaining system reliability.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, implementation and maintenance of The Helper Bee’s codebases, as well as the creation of new API / RESTful services that build on existing functionality
• Guide the evolution of our service architecture with focus on:
• Patterns that enable rapid iteration and scaling
• Practices that reduce service integration friction
• Defaults that make the right thing easy
• Establish and evangelize practices for:
• Service reliability and scalability
• System observability and monitoring
• Integration testing and validation
• Deployment safety and automation
• Lead systematic approaches to system design that help the whole team:
• Make sound architectural decisions
• Implement reliable integration patterns
• Balance speed and sustainability
• Drive improvements in development flow through:
• Optimizing deployment processes
• Creating feedback loops
• Improving system observability
• Guide technical decision-making by:
• Breaking down complex system problems
• Facilitating architecture discussions
• Helping teams understand operational impact
• Ensuring decisions enable reliable scaling
• Grow team capabilities through:
• Active mentorship
• Establishing learning opportunities
• Creating strong technical defaults
• Leading by example in system design
• Quickly isolate and debug complex issues within code
• Other duties as assigned

Performance Metrics:

• Demonstrate effective technical leadership through:
• Consistent guidance and mentorship of other engineers
• Establishing patterns that enable team success
• Creating environments for knowledge sharing
• Growing technical capabilities across the team
• Engineering Productivity:
• Establish and maintain strong technical defaults
• Guide improvements in development workflows
• Contribute to architecture decisions that enable rapid iteration
• Help reduce friction in development processes
• Lead Issue Resolution and systematic problem-solving through:
• Effective issue triage and resolution
• Knowledge sharing around debugging approaches
• Cross-team collaboration on technical challenges
• Improving system observability
• Innovation: Drive meaningful improvements through:
• Solutions that enable rapid iteration
• Practices that improve system reliability
• Tools and patterns that reduce development friction
• Balanced approach to technical decisions
•  Team Impact:
• Foster effective cross-team collaboration
• Share knowledge that grows team capabilities
• Help establish feedback loops
• Guide technical discussions toward actionable outcomes

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Strong understanding of distributed systems design and patterns
• Experience building and scaling backend services
• Track record of establishing technical defaults and patterns
• Change doesn’t scare you, in fact, it does the opposite -- it fuels you!
• Strong passion for helping others and problem-solving
• Understanding of system thinking and flow principles
• Experience with reliability and scaling
• Background in API design and integration patterns
• Experience growing other engineers
• Must be 18 years of age or older

Education and Experience:

• Strong background in backend system design and architecture
• Experience with modern backend technologies and practices
• Track record of designing and scaling distributed systems
• An understanding of best software development practices, patterns, and architecture
• Strong experience with Python and/or C# and/or Typescript used server-side
• Development and delivery of well designed RESTful APIs for internal, and external consumption
• Experience with the following or equivalents:
• Django
• .NET
• Front-end development, e.g. React
• Docker  
• Google Cloud, Azure
• Databases, e.g. Postgres, MS-SQL, 
• Mobile development, e.g. React Native
• Celery 
• Experience in the healthcare industry is a plus!

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to remain at your designated workstation for the duration of the workday
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• The ability to observe details at close range (typically on a computer screen)
• This position offers the flexibility of remote work at approved locations within the United States. Candidates must have a reliable internet connection and a designated work environment conducive to professional phone calls and sensitive data. Enjoy the convenience and comfort of working remotely while contributing to our team's success.

The Helper Bees is committed to building a workplace where diversity, equity, and inclusion are valued and prioritized. We are an equal opportunity employer that welcomes all qualified applicants without discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any non-merit based or legally protected grounds.

The Helper Bees provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the job application and interview process. To request accommodation, please let your recruiter know.

As part of our standard hiring process, selected candidates may be required to undergo a background check and/or drug screen. The Helper Bees adheres to applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding these screenings, and the results will be considered in accordance with applicable regulations.    

The Helper Bees was recently made aware of a fraudulent entity posing as our organization and requesting personal information. Please be aware of and protect yourself from scams. Visit our careers page to view all current job openings.