Application Services Engineer, Sr. Principal

Job Description

Your Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and technically experienced Application Services Engineer, Sr Principal to help lead Stellarus into a modern technology company. This role will provide deep technical leadership to stand up the platform and technology products organization, build and scale a developer community of practice, and ensure we are hiring and developing the right engineering talent. The ideal candidate will be a hands-on technical strategist who can influence architecture, mentor engineers, and drive delivery excellence across full stack platforms.

The Senior Principal Applications Services Engineer will report to the Vice President of IT Applications. In this role you will play a key role as part of the IT Applications leadership team in delivering and collaborating on all aspects of cloud migration strategy and software engineering design, development, and support. Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow - personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building, and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.

Responsibilities

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Establish and drive the long-term strategic vision for Platform Engineering, setting the direction for platform architecture, technology choices, and best practices across all the Application Platforms
• Pioneer the integration of AI and Agentic AI into platform design, developing and deploying intelligent agents to proactively manage, optimize, and secure the platform, thereby reducing manual work and increasing system autonomy.
• Drive organizational change and innovation by identifying and championing new platform technologies, processes, and methodologies that enhance developer productivity and platform efficiency.
• Engage with and influence senior executive leadership on matters of platform strategy, resource allocation, and technical roadmaps, translating complex technical concepts into business outcomes.
• Mentor and guide senior engineers (L5 and below), acting as a domain expert and a key resource for resolving the most complex and ambiguous technical challenges.
• Recommends operational plans and strategies that will directly impact the achievement of overall functional results.
• Establishes operational plans for Platform Engineering with a mid-term impact on results (e.g., 2+ years).
• Responsible for proactively improving existing processes and systems, using significant conceptualizing, reasoning, and interpretation. Solutions are novel and unique and draw upon best practices based on expertise.
• Develop new perspectives and innovative approaches on existing or new problems, applying agile methods
• Communicates with parties within and outside of Platform Engineering. Has responsibilities for communicating with parties external to the organization, which may include customers or vendors.
• Works to influence others to accept Platform Engineering views/practices, and agree to or accept new concepts, practices, and approaches.

Qualifications

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires a college degree or equivalent experience and minimuma minimum of 12 years of relevant experience, including 10+ years of experience in Software design/development, cloud native architecture and implementations, mobile applications, application architecture, software as a service (SaaS), software integration, automated software testing, continuous integration/continuous delivery, and working in DevSecOps
• Master's or bachelor's degree preferred; Computer science or other related experience
• Viewed as the leading expert and/or resource within the field by peers within and outside the organization
• Experience with developing productive relationships with business leaders across the organization to influence how applications can enable new sources of value
• Strong communication skills with a proven ability to understand key technical concepts and communicate effectively with technical staff, business stakeholders and senior management to enhance understanding and drive decisions that lead to positive outcomes
• Proven ability to collaborate, build relationships and influence individuals at all levels in a matrix-management environment (as well as external vendors and service providers) to ensure that segregation and overlapping roles are identified and coordinated
• Strong organizational skills, the ability to perform under pressure and management of multiple priorities with competing demands for resources

About the Team

About Stellarus and the Ascendiun Family of Companies

Stellarus, launched in January 2025, is designed to scale innovative healthcare solutions that support customers in creating a health care experience deserving of their family, friends, and neighbors.

Stellarus is part of a family of organizations that is overseen by a nonprofit corporate entity named Ascendiun. The Ascendiun Family of Companies also includes Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan and Altais, a clinical services company.

Stellarus' vision is to empower its customers to create a healthcare experience that is worthy of their family, friends, and neighbors. Stellarus' objective is to offer innovative, modern, scalable solutions that challenge the health care status quo. This very closely aligns with Blue Shield of California's vision by using innovation to improve quality, affordability, and experience for members.

To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

Our Values:

At Stellarus, our core values of agility, trust, drive, courage and service shape our approach to developing innovative product offerings.

Our Workplace Model:

At Stellarus and the Ascendiun Family of Companies, we believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. As we continue to evolve our workplace model, our focus remains on creating spaces where our people can connect with purpose - whether working in the office or through a hybrid approach - by providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce.

Two Ways of Working:

• Hybrid (Default): Work from a business unit-approved office at least two (2) times per month (for roles below Director-level) or once per week (for Director-level roles and above).Exceptions:

o Member-facing and approved out-of-state roles remain remote.

o Employees living more than 50 miles from their assigned offices are expected to work with their managers on a plan for periodic office visits.

o For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

• On-Site: Work from a business unit-approved office an average of four (4) or more days a week.

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Please click here for further physical requirement detail.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.