Staff Software Engineer

<h3>Job Description</h3><div><p><strong>Staff Backend Engineer | AI Healthtech | NYC | $220k-$240k + Equity</strong></p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>I’m working with a fast-growing Series B healthtech company in New York that is hiring a genuinely strong Staff Backend Engineer.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>They’re building software for a complex healthcare environment, combining large-scale backend systems, data-heavy workflows and AI where reliability, accuracy and auditability are critical.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>This is not an architecture-only Staff role.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p><strong>They want someone who can:</strong></p>\n<ul>\n <li>Own major backend systems and technical domains</li>\n <li>Make important architectural decisions</li>\n <li>Set engineering patterns used across multiple engineers and teams</li>\n <li>Mentor and raise the technical bar around them</li>\n <li>Remain genuinely hands-on with production code</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p><strong>The engineering problems include:</strong></p>\n<ul>\n <li>Backend architecture and distributed systems</li>\n <li>Complex relational data modelling</li>\n <li>APIs and data-heavy workflows</li>\n <li>High-integrity, correctness-sensitive systems</li>\n <li>AI / LLM-enabled products</li>\n <li>RAG and agentic workflows</li>\n <li>Production AI infrastructure</li>\n <li>Reliability, observability and auditability</li>\n <li>Cloud infrastructure and modern engineering practices</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p><strong>The profile they’re looking for:</strong></p>\n<ul>\n <li>10+ years of software engineering experience</li>\n <li>Genuine formal Staff-level engineering experience</li>\n <li>Deep backend engineering fundamentals</li>\n <li>Strong architecture and system-design judgement</li>\n <li>Experience owning difficult production systems end-to-end</li>\n <li>Evidence of technical influence beyond your own individual tickets</li>\n <li>Strong API and relational data-modelling experience</li>\n <li>Someone who can make decisions with incomplete information and clearly explain the reasoning and trade-offs</li>\n <li>Still enjoys building rather than moving entirely into management</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>They are particularly interested in engineers coming from strong product technology companies, high-growth startups or recognised engineering organisations.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>Experience across healthcare, fintech, AI infrastructure, data platforms or other high-integrity backend environments is useful, but the quality of the engineering environment and the scope you personally owned matter more than simply matching the industry.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p><strong>Modern AI experience is valuable, particularly around:</strong></p>\n<ul>\n <li>LLMs</li>\n <li>RAG</li>\n <li>agents</li>\n <li>evaluation</li>\n <li>production AI infrastructure</li>\n <li>AI-assisted software development</li>\n</ul>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>But this is still fundamentally a Staff Backend Engineering role, not an ML research position.</p>\n<p>The strongest candidates tend to be able to explain:</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>the problem → what they personally owned → the decision they made → alternatives considered → trade-offs accepted → what improved in production.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>📍 Manhattan, NYC</p>\n<p>🏢 3 days per week in office</p>\n<p>💰 $220k-$240k base + equity</p>\n<p>👨 💻 Staff-level individual contributor</p>\n<p>🚀 Series B / high-growth environment</p>\n<p>❌ No visa sponsorship</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p>If you’re a Staff Software Engineer with a strong backend background and want significant technical ownership without moving away from coding, drop me a message.</p>\n<p><br /></p>\n<p><span>[email protected]</span></p></div>