Lead Software Engineer

Primary Responsibilities:

• Own architectural decisions across the Horizon Compass front end (React) and the Python services/API layer connecting it to Apollos Databricks/Snowflake data layer
• Set and enforce engineering standards - code review practices, testing discipline, CI/CD, API design conventions
• Lead technical design for new portal features and data-facing services, balancing speed with the governed, regulated nature of the data
• Mentor and grow engineers on the team; act as the technical escalation point for hard problems
• Partner directly with the Director of Data Services on technical roadmap and resourcing, and represent engineering in cross-functional and leadership discussions
• Guide the front-end/back-end split of work as the team grows (currently backfilling Full Stack, Cloud, and Frontend/UI roles)
• Help scope and de-risk Horizon/Apollo’s expansion to Optum West, East, and Mid-East regions from an engineering standpoint
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications:

• Graduate degree or equivalent experience
• Technical depth
• Expert-level production experience with React (architecture, performance, state management) and Python (API development, service design)
• Solid SQL and experience working against a modern data platform (Databricks/Snowflake or equivalent)
• Proven track record designing systems that scale - not just building features, but owning how a platform’s architecture evolves
• Proven comfortable owning the full stack from UI through API to data layer, and making tradeoffs across all three
• Leadership
• Experience as a technical lead - setting standards, doing design/architecture review, unblocking other engineers
• Proven to mentor without micromanaging; grows engineers rather than just directing them
• Proven comfortable being the technical voice in front of non-engineering stakeholders and leadership
• Judgment
• Experience working in a regulated or compliance-sensitive data environment (healthcare a strong plus)
• Proven pragmatic about technical debt — knows when to invest and when to move fast

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct healthcare, HEDIS, or claims data experience
• Experience scaling a platform across multiple business units or regions
• Familiarity with Databricks AI functions or agentic/LLM-based features (Apollo is actively building in this direction)