Principal Software Development Engineer

CVS Health

Principal engineer building CVS Health’s next-generation PBM claims and financial metrics compute platform. Leading big-data architecture, legacy replacement, performance engineering, and technical direction.

Posted 8/7/2026full-timeArizona, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $144,200 - $288,400 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates extensive experience in system architecture and design, particularly in high-volume data processing and cloud-native environments. Proven ability to lead technical direction, mentor engineering teams, and effectively communicate complex concepts to executive stakeholders.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Architecture LeadershipSQL FluencyJava DevelopmentPerformance EngineeringCloud-Native Delivery

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

System DesignData ModelingPerformance ProfilingCaching StrategyBatch ProcessingStreaming WorkloadsOLAP WorkloadsTechnical DocumentationDecision-Driving DemonstrationsService Boundary Standards

Soft Skills

MentoringCross-Squad AlignmentTechnical Leadership

Tools & Technologies

JavaSpring BootGradleJOOQCI/CD PracticesContainer-First ApproachObservability Tools

Industry Keywords

PBM UnderwritingFinancial MetricsActuarial SystemsLegacy SystemsSLA ManagementQuery PlansMetric Drift

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudGradleJavaSpringSpring BootSpringBootSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Set technical direction for a next-generation compute platform powering PBM underwriting and financial metrics
Design and lead architecture for systems processing hundreds of millions of claims-level records under tight latency SLAs
Translate PBM financial logic into trusted, extensible systems for finance, actuarial, account, and engineering teams
Lead architecture decisions, ADRs, and design reviews
Establish and enforce standards for service boundaries, testing strategy, and schema evolution through tooling
Decide whether to strangle legacy systems or rewrite them, and whether to split or retain services
Profile systems, read query plans, develop caching strategies, and achieve sub-second-to-low-minute SLAs on large datasets
Produce design documents, architecture narratives, and decision-driving demonstrations
Present technical concepts to VP/SVP audiences and executive stakeholders
Mentor senior, staff, and principal engineers
Raise the hiring bar and drive cross-squad alignment
Deliver cloud-native systems using container-first, observability-first, and CI/CD practices

Requirements

What you’ll need

12+ years building production software systems
3+ years at staff/principal scope
Experience designing and operating systems processing hundreds of millions to billions of rows
Fluency in throughput, latency, partitioning, and cost trade-offs across batch, streaming, and OLAP workloads
Strong system design skills, including consistency, failure modes, backpressure, and system evolution
Architecture leadership through ADRs, design reviews, standards, and tooling
Strong solution design judgment regarding legacy strangulation versus rewriting and service boundaries
SQL fluency and data modeling experience
Experience with parity/reconciliation patterns and debugging metric drift with finance and actuarial stakeholders
Hands-on experience with Java, Spring Boot, Gradle, and SQL-first persistence such as JOOQ or equivalent
Performance engineering experience, including profiling, query-plan reading, caching strategy, and meeting SLAs on large datasets
Ability to produce high-quality design documents, executive-readable architecture narratives, and technical demos
Ability to present to VP/SVP audiences
Technical leadership without authority, including mentoring and cross-squad alignment
Cloud-native delivery mindset with container-first, observability-first, and CI/CD discipline
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field; equivalent experience accepted

Benefits

Comp & perks

CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to base pay
Award target in the company’s equity award program
Medical coverage
Dental coverage
Vision coverage
Paid time off
Retirement savings options
Wellness programs
Other resources supporting physical, emotional, and financial well-being