Staff Back-End Engineer: Data

About Helm Health
Helm is a Series A start-up transforming health insurance with "Dynamic Copay" – a new insurance plan that lets members see simple, upfront prices for all medical care before making decisions. Our team is building the infrastructure to power these plans for health insurance payors. With Helm, our clients offer simpler health plans to their members, helping them navigate to higher-value care.
Our team has specialized in Dynamic Copay solutions since 2020, and Helm is the only independent platform in the market. We have grown rapidly since our launch, working with clients from local health plans to the nation's largest health insurers. The market is forming around us, making it an exciting time to join!
Role Overview
We're seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to join our Data team. You'll work alongside our Principal Data Engineer to build and improve the automated systems that power our data infrastructure — pipelines, data quality, integrations, and internal tooling that make the rest of the engineering org more effective.
Responsibilies
Design and build automated data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes
Improve data quality, validation, and monitoring across production systems
Build internal tooling that accelerates engineering workflows and reduces manual data operations
Work across PostgreSQL and BigQuery to optimize storage, query performance, and data modeling
Collaborate with engineering teams across the org to understand data needs and build scalable solutions
Participate in code reviews and architecture discussions
Contribute to the on-call rotation for data systems
Support data governance and access control practices to ensure compliance with HIPAA and other regulatory requirements across data systems
Maintain clear documentation for data pipelines, schemas, and system dependencies to support team knowledge sharing and operational continuity
Experience with dbt (data build tool) or similar SQL-based transformation frameworks
Requirements
5+ years in backend or data engineering
Strong Python proficiency
Strong SQL skills, particularly in PostgreSQL and BigQuery
Experience designing and maintaining automated data pipelines
Experience with data quality frameworks, validation, and monitoring
Docker/Kubernetes
Google Cloud Platform
Preferred Qualifications
Go proficiency
Experience with additional data stores at scale (CouchDB, CockroachDB, or similar)
Health insurance or claims processing experience
Terraform/Terraform Cloud
Incident management and response experience
Start-up experience
Characteristics
Self-directed and comfortable working across systems to find and fix data problems
Mission-driven — motivated by making healthcare simpler and more transparent
Willing to ask questions and admit what you don't know
Systems thinker — you see how data flows through an organization and instinctively look for ways to make it better
Internal Tools/Technology
Cursor / Linear / GitHub / Notion / Whimsical
Slack / Google Workspace / Zoom
incident.io / Sentry
Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini — we are an AI-forward engineering team
macOS / Linux
Compensation
The target base salary range for this position is $150,000 - $225,000 and is part of a competitive total rewards package including equity and benefits. Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by several factors, including experience, skills, location, internal pay equity, and other relevant business considerations.
Benefits/Offerings
Base salary + bonus + equity
Unlimited PTO (mandatory 12 days)
Computer + home office stipend
401(k) + matching
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Autonomy and tons of room for career growth
Occasional Travel
We meet quarterly as a company.
Please note that this is a fully remote opportunity.