Staff Backend Software Engineer Community

Papa is a new kind of care built on human connection. Across the country consumers health plans and employers look to Papa to provide vital social support by pairing older adults and families with Papa Pals. Trained and vetted companions who provide a helping hand and an open ear resulting in less loneliness better health and happier lives.

Founded in 2017 due to Andrews personal need with his grandfather Papa. Based in Miami Papa is backed by Canaan Tiger Global Management Comcast Ventures SoftBank Vision TCG Initialized Capital and Seven Seven Six among other revered institutional and individual investors. We envision a world where no one has to go it alone. Learn more .

Youll be joining Papa Community a 0-to-1 venture within Papa based in San Francisco thats building virtual care for seniors. Youll have the autonomy and velocity of an early-stage startup with the advantages of a growth-stage company including Papas deep expertise serving older adults established health plan relationships and reliable capital. As one of the early team members on Community youll have a significant tangible impact to improve patient outcomes and drive scalability.

Founded in 2017 Papa is backed by Canaan Tiger Global Management Comcast Ventures SoftBank Vision Fund 2 TCG Initialized Capital and Seven Seven Six among other revered institutional and individual investors. We envision a world where no one has to go it alone. Learn more at .

We are expanding our founding engineering team and looking for a Staff Backend Software Engineer to join Papa Community and help build our technical foundation. Youll be our second engineer working alongside another Staff Engineer and reporting directly to Papa Communitys GM with dotted-line mentorship from Papa cores engineering leadership.

This is a rare chance to shape a platform from its earliest days without giving up the stability of an established company behind you. As Papa Communitys engineering team grows there will be more opportunities to take on broader technical leadership - this role is a chance to build that track record early working shoulder-to-shoulder with our senior team members.

Youll help own the technical architecture for Papa Community. Unlike joining an established engineering org where youd work on a narrow slice of the codebase youll make foundational decisions about system design technology choices and engineering practices that will define Community for years to come.

Youll own problems not tickets. You wont be handed a fully-scoped spec and asked to implement it - youll be handed a problem the business is facing and given real latitude to figure out the best way to solve it. If what excites you is being trusted to figure out what to build and why this is the role for you.

Youll partner directly with the GM much as a technical co-founder would. Your voice will shape product strategy build vs. buy decisions and business priorities.

Youll leverage Papas infrastructure while maintaining startup velocity. You can access Papas deployment pipelines security compliance and DevOps support - but make decisions in days not weeks and ship at a pace that matches the urgency of the people we serve. Youll get institutional advantages without enterprise bureaucracy.

Youll navigate complex healthcare integrations. Our platform connects EHRs care management platforms revenue cycle management and patient communication tools. Youll need deep expertise in healthcare data standards (FHIR HL7 X12) and resilient API integration patterns.

Youll balance technical perfection with shipping velocity. Were a startup - sometimes the right answer is ship it and iterate rather than architect the perfect solution. Youll need judgment to know when to build for scale and when to move fast and a genuine bias for action.

Youll work in a high-autonomy environment with a lot of open questions and comparatively little established process. Youll influence stakeholders make recommendations and own outcomes.

Build the technical foundation for virtual care delivery. Youll help design and implement the core platform that connects our EHR care management systems billing infrastructure and patient communication tools. This means creating robust integrations establishing data flows and ensuring HIPAA-compliant architecture that can scale as we grow to thousands of patients.

Enable operational intelligence and automation. Youll build the data infrastructure and tooling that allows our clinical team to make informed decisions automate care workflows and track patient outcomes in real-time. This includes everything from patient dashboards to automated patient outreach triggers to clinical decision support.

Lead critical technical decisions. Youll evaluate build vs. buy trade-offs recommend technology choices and help architect solutions that balance immediate needs with long-term scalability. Youll partner with the GM to shape our technical roadmap.

Help establish engineering practices. Youll help define code standards testing expectations deployment processes and technical documentation practices as we grow the team - building the muscle for future engineering hires not just following whats already there.

Own system reliability and performance. Youll be responsible for production stability monitoring and continuous improvement of our platform. This means building resilient systems for healthcare-critical workflows where reliability isnt optional - claim submissions patient data accuracy and care coordination all need to work consistently.

A genuine appetite for ambiguity and ownership - Youre energized by open questions and evolving standards. You dont wait to be handed a fully-scoped task - you enjoy taking ownership of the problem itself and figuring out the right way to solve it.

A bias toward velocity - You want to ship see it working and iterate. You feel the urgency of building something that patients and clinicians depend on.

Product mindset - You think like a founder balancing technical excellence with business outcomes revenue and patient impact. You see gaps as opportunities and help define what we build not just how.

Strategic technical leadership - You lead large complex projects with clear business impact. You influence senior leaders on engineering strategy and make compelling recommendations on build vs. buy decisions and strategic technical investments.

Deep backend expertise - Expert-level proficiency in Ruby or Python with deep knowledge of distributed systems API design and building scalable architectures. We build in Elixir so hands-on Elixir experience matters - see qualifications below - but strong Ruby/Python fundamentals translate quickly.

System design and reliability - You build resilient well-tested systems with proper monitoring rollout practices and production stability for healthcare-critical workloads.

High autonomy and ownership - You thrive in ambiguous environments educate non-technical stakeholders and own outcomes without needing detailed requirements or constant direction.

Startup adaptability - Youre highly communicative across operational and clinical teams move fast when needed and understand when to ship quickly versus architect for scale.

Continuous improvement mindset - You proactively identify areas for improvement in systems and processes without being asked and drive initiatives to address them.

• 9 years of software development experience
• Expert-level proficiency in Ruby or Python
• 2 years of hands-on professional experience with Elixir
• Experience building and shipping high quality work and achieving high reliability
• Experience improving quality through thoughtful code reviews appropriate testing proper rollout and monitoring
• Passionate about improving healthcare access and outcomes

• Experience working as one of the first engineers at an early-stage startup or otherwise building without an established engineering org around you
• Deeper Elixir expertise including Phoenix LiveView
• Experience with healthcare technology including data standards (FHIR HL7 X12) EHR/vendor integrations HIPAA-compliant systems for protected health information and healthcare-specific APIs (clearinghouses billing platforms)

• Hybrid with 2-3 days per week in-office in San Francisco CA

• Target Salary Range: $200000 - $230000 (Actual compensation determined by candidate experience location education certifications and skill set).
• Equity: Meaningful equity package.
• Health & Wellness: Medical dental and vision insurance coverage; Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• Retirement: 401(k) plan with a company matches up to 4%.
• Time Off: Flexible PTO 11 paid company holidays parental leave and caregiver leave.

Papas core business has had tremendous impact and we are looking to bring even more results for patients with Papa Community:

Papa is the lynchpin that keeps me going month to month. Theyre the piece of the team that allows the other pieces to happenI can worry about finding another doctor if I have to. Finding another Papa doesnt happen. - Member from Tampa FL

Papa has kind of saved me. Now I have somebody to help me go to my appointments. Ive got somebody to help me clean my house. Ive got somebody to talk to. It just took so much pressure off my shoulders. Im finally feeling like myself again. - Member from Tacoma WA

I look forward to seeing them. They make me laugh. I make them laugh. Theyve certainly taken lonely days from me also. It works both ways for us. - Pal from Rhode Island

Not sure if you meet every requirement Studies show that women and individuals from historically underrepresented communities are less likely to apply for roles unless they meet every single qualification. At Papa Community we are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued empowered and supported. If this role excites you we encourage you to apply.

About Papas Culture: Papas culture is people-first. We encourage everyone to bring their whole authentic selves to work to be transparent non-hierarchical and above all to be a good person.

We see ourselves as a place where every Papa employee feels they belong a place where careers flourish a place that brings back purpose and joy to work a culture where visionaries/entrepreneurs are developed.

Equal Opportunity & Accommodation Statement: Papa Inc. and all its affiliates and subsidiaries is an equal opportunity employer committed to prohibiting unlawful discrimination harassment and retaliation. Our employees and qualified applicants are protected from discrimination based on race color religion national origin age sex disability military or veteran status gender identity sexual orientation or any other basis protected by federal state or local law. These protections apply to all employment decisions including recruitment hiring performance evaluations promotions training and career development. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees and qualified applicants in accordance with applicable law. If you need additional assistance or an accommodation to participate fully in any part of the hiring process please submit a request to .