Lead Software Engineer - AI Platform Team

Why Wellmark: We are a mutual insurance company owned by our policy holders across Iowa and South Dakota, and we’ve built our reputation on over 80 years’ worth of trust. We are not motivated by profits. We are motivated by the well-being of our friends, family, and neighbors–our members. If you’re passionate about joining an organization working hard to put its members first, to provide best-in-class service, and one that is committed to sustainability and innovation, consider applying today!

Why Wellmark Technology: Wellmark is building innovative, modern solutions using cutting edge technology. We are driving organizational transformation and business strategy by empowering our technology team to innovate new and elegant solutions to enhance the customer experience. Together, we are leaning into the future, owning the outcome, and driving organizational change to transform how we work.  

As a Lead Software Engineer on Wellmark’s AI & Analytics Platform team, you will play a pivotal role in building the company’s foundational AI infrastructure and custom engineered solutions. This team is responsible for designing, developing, and operationalizing secure, scalable, and compliant AI platforms including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), chatbots, and agentic agent solutions. You will help design and implement reusable frameworks, SDKs, and backend services on AWS, while collaborating closely with engineers, product managers, QA, and stakeholders. This is a hands-on engineering role with opportunities to mentor, innovate, and shape Wellmark’s enterprise AI capabilities from the ground up.  

Preferred:  

• Strong engineering discipline with hands-on experience building backend services, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise-grade APIs/microservices (RESTful and event-driven) using AWS technologies (CDK, Lambda, Step Functions, Bedrock, S3, SNS, SQS, EventBridge, DynamoDB, MongoDB, Aurora/Postgres, EC2/ECS, CloudWatch, Glue, AWS Batch, API Gateway).  
• Deep expertise in AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) for infrastructure-as-code, including authoring, testing, and maintaining reusable constructs and patterns.  
• Experience implementing automated testing strategies at unit, integration, and end-to-end levels, and hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Enterprise Actions or similar tools.  
• Demonstrated experience building secure, compliant solutions in regulated environments (HIPAA, SOC2, etc.), including embedding security best practices into API and backend service design (authentication, authorization, data protection).  
• Experience engineering AI/ML platforms, frameworks, or reusable components (RAG, chatbots, agentic agents, etc.).  
• Familiarity with AI Ops practices for monitoring, benchmarking, and ensuring compliance of AI solutions.  
• Exposure to building and supporting real-time data pipelines or streaming integrations.  
• AWS certifications (Practitioner, Solutions Architect) are a plus.  
• Prior experience in health insurance, healthcare, or other regulated industries.  
• Experience participating in POCs, hackathons, or demos with stakeholders.  
• Strong innovation mindset and ability to drive process improvements.  
• Demonstrated ability to approach complex technical challenges with creativity and resourcefulness, leveraging strong problem-solving skills.  
• Experience working within an Agile team environment.  
• Experience mentoring/coaching other engineers.  
• 10 years engineering experience with 4 years serving as a lead software engineer 

Required:  

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, or related field of study, and at least 5 years of software development experience (ex. Angular, NodeJS, TypeScript, Python, C++, .NET, Java, SQL) OR 9 years of related and applicable experience.  
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills. Accuracy and high attention to detail. Previous experience troubleshooting and developing creative technical solutions. Ability to provide innovative solutions to complex issues.  
• Demonstrated experience in software development lifecycle methodologies.  
• Big picture thinker with the ability to translate the value of the WaaS strategy to company strategy when making design and development decisions.  
• Demonstrated, strong ability to gather information, perform necessary research needed for root cause analysis, problem definition and formulation, recommend solution implementation, verification, and ongoing optimization, using data to support recommendations and best practices.  
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships to reach outcomes that gain the support and acceptance of all parties. Ability to communicate key information in a timely manner to the appropriate stakeholder audience with the ability to adjust communication style that will best suit the audience.  
• Ability to communicate with and coach/mentor team members, while setting an example in maintaining a positive attitude, staying calm under pressure, being approachable, and respectful and taking responsibility for failures.  
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced environment with changing priorities. Excellent organizational skills. Strong time management skills with the ability to set and meet established timeframes with little direction, while assuring data and information integrity.  
• Eagerness to learn and stay current on industry trends and have a continuous learning mindset.   
• Ability to collaborate and work as a team to accomplish goals and/or solve problems. Ability to earn trust and respect from peers, leadership, and stakeholders. Ability to learn by actively listening and applying coaching feedback.  
• Ability to lead, support and work within a diverse development team model including global staffing, crowd sourcing, etc.  

a. Provide high-level analysis and implementation of innovative, efficient, and cost-effective business solutions for multiple platforms, while utilizing information technology, business, and industry trends.  

b. Guide other engineers in the design, development, code testing, debugging and resolution of issues that utilize emerging technology and meet and exceed Wellmark's evolving business needs.  

c. Provide advanced support in the gathering of information, necessary research needed for root cause analysis, problem definition and formulation, solution implementation, verification, and ongoing optimization. Ensure analysis of defects to find root cause and guide others in the identification of potential improvement opportunities.   

d. Mentor, guide and problem-solve with other technology areas in the development and implementation of solutions, including how to use new or enhanced software/applications.  

e. Use data and cost measures (AWS, infrastructure, labor, etc.) to influence timely decisions, build consensus, and take actions to successfully deliver objectives and support benefit realization. Identify known issues, impacts to initiatives or production outcomes if not resolved, and escalate as necessary.   

f. Build relationships with Wellmark leaders and acts as consultant on business status, issues, process improvements and technology enhancements or capabilities.  

g. Participate in proposals, estimates and proof-of-concept activities as needed.  

h. Maintain awareness of industry’s best practices and standards and proactively participate in industry/knowledge reference groups relative to role.  

i. Other duties as assigned.  

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

The policy of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is to recruit, hire, train and promote individuals in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation due to a disability at any stage of the employment application process should contact us at [email protected]

Please inform us if you meet the definition of a "Covered DoD official".

At this time, Wellmark is not considering applicants for this position that require any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please refer to the following resources:Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants 

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