Lead Software Engineer
About The Position
Optum Tech is seeking an experienced Backend Tech Lead Software Engineer to drive the design, development, and evolution of backend platforms. The role provides technical leadership across a product-driven delivery team, owning backend technical direction while remaining hands-on as a primary individual contributor. The engineer partners with product managers, engineering leaders, and other tech leads to shape technical strategy, guide complex initiatives, and deliver high-quality, scalable, reliable software. The role advances a Java and Spring Boot microservices ecosystem in an Agile Scrum environment. It includes setting engineering standards, mentoring engineers, guiding technical design, and supporting CI/CD, DevOps automation, deployment, observability, and service reliability. The position is with UnitedHealth Group, whose mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. The employer describes an inclusive workplace and requires candidates to pass a drug test before beginning employment.
Requirements
- At least 6 years of professional software engineering experience with deep Java and Spring Boot expertise.
- At least 6 years of experience with event-driven and API-based microservice architectures.
- At least 5 years of experience working with relational databases such as Postgres or MySQL.
- At least 4 years of experience leading technical design and influencing engineering decisions across a team or domain.
- At least 4 years of experience working within Agile development frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, or similar.
- At least 4 years of experience collaborating across distributed and cross-functional teams.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field.
- At least 3 years of CI/CD and DevOps experience.
- At least 2 years of AWS cloud experience.
- At least 2 years of experience as a Technical Lead or System Architect.
Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership for a backend delivery team, ensuring product stories are well-designed, estimable, and meet acceptance criteria.
- Serve as a hands-on technical lead and primary individual contributor in a player/coach capacity.
- Design, develop, and maintain Java-based Spring Boot microservices, delivering well-tested, high-quality code that meets functional and non-functional requirements and contributes to sound microservice architecture and design decisions.
- Review and improve code quality through pull request reviews, reinforcement of engineering best practices, and coaching engineers.
- Clarify requirements with product teams and stakeholders, communicate technical trade-offs, and translate business needs into low-level technical designs and implementation estimates.
- Participate in Agile ceremonies, including standups, refinement or grooming, planning, and retrospectives, and help improve team execution, predictability, and continuous improvement.
- Support CI/CD pipelines, DevOps automation, and deployment processes; continually improve SDLC, CI/CD, and engineering practices.
- Debug, monitor, and troubleshoot services using observability tools such as Splunk or Sumo Logic to maintain microservice health and reliability.
- Mentor engineers across levels and help set engineering standards.
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements.
- Incentive and recognition programs, subject to eligibility requirements.
- Equity stock purchase plan, subject to eligibility requirements.
- 401(k) contribution, subject to eligibility requirements.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
