Staff Software Engineer

Spark Advisors

$195K — $225K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in software development with modern JavaScript frameworks (Vue, React) or Python/back-end technologies
  • Ability to navigate and excel in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
  • Proven track record of aligning technical solutions with business objectives
  • Experience using AI-powered development tools in daily processes
  • Strong communication skills to explain technical topics to diverse audiences
  • Experience making architectural decisions and delivering high-quality user-facing products
  • Commitment to fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented team culture

Responsibilities

  • Deliver comprehensive full-stack features that support Medicare brokers and their clients
  • Collaborate with product and design teams to define project scope and influence the development roadmap
  • Make critical architectural decisions to promote system robustness and customer-facing solutions
  • Identify and address sources of technical debt, balancing immediate needs with long-term sustainability
  • Set and enhance engineering standards and practices, mentoring colleagues throughout the process
  • Utilize modern AI tools to streamline development and enhance team productivity

Benefits

  • Equity compensation
  • Comprehensive health care including dental and vision through our PEO Sequoia
  • Flexible work arrangements with co-working options available
  • 401k retirement plan
  • Generous Paid Time Off policy
  • Monthly stipend to support remote work expenses
  • Paid parental leave for both birthing and non-birthing parents
  • 11 recognized holidays and a two-week sabbatical after 5 years of service
  • Wellbeing perks through various health and lifestyle platforms
Full Job Description
Summary

Spark is looking to bring on a Staff Software Engineer that will drive progress in the Medicare industry's evolution. As a staff-level member of our engineering team, you'll own meaningful pieces of our technical roadmap and set a high bar for how we build. This will involve delivering impactful feature sets to our industry-leading web-based broker platform, making architectural decisions to support its long-term health and stability, and shaping the technical direction of your product domain.

Your day-to-day responsibilities will be diverse: you'll engage in both frontend and backend development, partner with product and design leadership on scope and tradeoffs, mentor engineers around you, and own the long-term technical health of the systems you work in - including knowing when a system needs to be replaced, not just improved.

This is a hybrid opportunity, that will require a one week onboarding period in our NYC office in the Flatiron district, followed by an expectation of 2-3 days in office.
What you'll do
  • Deliver impactful full-stack features that benefit Medicare brokers and beneficiaries, while setting the quality bar for how the team builds
  • Partner closely with product and design leadership to shape scope, surface tradeoffs, and influence roadmap decisions
  • Own system-level decisions within your product domain, drive key system and architectural decisions that ensure our platform is set up for elegant solutions to our customers' problems
  • Identify systemic sources of technical debt and own their resolution, balancing short-term velocity with long-term platform health
  • Establish and evolve engineering standards - from code review practices to system design principles - leading by example and mentoring engineers around you
  • Build with modern AI-powered developer tools that remove friction and let you focus on meaningful problems, and help us continue to grow how we use them across the team
What we're looking for
  • 8+ years of professional experience with either modern JS (Vue, React) or Python/backend web development, with meaningful hands-on experience in both
  • Comfort with ambiguity; ability to thrive in fast-paced environments
  • Product intuition and a track record of connecting technical investments to business outcomes and influencing roadmap decisions upstream of execution
  • Fluency with AI-powered development tools as part of your everyday workflow
  • Exceptional communication skills - able to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and vice versa
  • Demonstrated track record of leading architectural decisions at the domain level and shipping customer-facing products with technical excellence
  • Commitment to a growth-oriented team culture focused on learning, continuous improvement, and winning together
Nice to haves
  • Experience working directly with cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred)
  • Expertise in Django or similar
  • Track record of defining technical strategy at the domain or team level
  • History of raising engineering standards through mentorship and code review culture


Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our company's size and industry, and are one part of the total compensation package that also includes equity, benefits, and other opportunities at Spark. In accordance with New York City, Colorado, California, and other applicable laws, Spark is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. Individual pay decisions are ultimately based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skillset, geography, and balancing internal equity. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is listed below. We expect most candidates to fall in the middle of the range. We also believe that your personal needs and preferences should be taken into consideration, so we allow some choice between equity and cash.

Base Salary

$195,000-$225,000 USD

Why you should join our team

By joining Spark, you will get in on the ground floor of a fast-moving, well-funded, and mission-driven startup where you will have a profound impact on the brokers and beneficiaries we serve. And you'll learn, grow, be challenged, and have fun with your team while doing it.

We strive to help you and your family thrive. We're committed to supporting your happiness, healthiness, and overall well-being by providing a comprehensive benefits program. In addition to your base salary, we also offer:
  • Equity compensation
  • Health care, including dental and vision through our PEO Sequoia
  • Flexible work location; co-working available
  • 401k
  • Paid Time Off
  • Monthly Remote Work Stipend (help cover costs of home-office needs)
  • Paid Parental Leave
  • Up to 14 weeks for birthing parents
  • Up to 8 weeks for non-birth parents
  • 11 paid holidays
  • 2 week sabbatical at 5 years of employment
  • Wellbeing Perks through SpringHealth, OneMedical, PerkSpot, and SoFi

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Spark Advisors

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Staff Software Engineer jobs: