Senior Software Engineer

This role is suitable for a Senior Software Engineer with at least five years of software engineering experience and strong proficiency in Node.js, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, REST APIs, microservices, and cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP.

The candidate should be skilled in designing, developing, testing, debugging, and supporting scalable backend services, including microservice and serverless architectures.

They should also be familiar with unit and integration testing, CI/CD pipelines, Agile delivery, cross-functional collaboration, and modern development tools such as GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and generative AI assistants.

How would you design a RESTful microservice in Node.js or TypeScript for member support functionality?

I would define clear resource-oriented endpoints, validate inputs, apply consistent error handling, and separate routing, business logic, and data access layers. I would also design for observability, security, scalability, and backward-compatible API evolution.

What factors do you consider when choosing between a microservice and a serverless architecture on AWS?

I consider workload characteristics, execution time, scaling patterns, operational ownership, latency, cost, and integration requirements. Serverless is effective for event-driven or variable workloads, while microservices may provide more control for long-running or highly customized services.

How would you ensure reliable and secure communication between backend services?

I would use authenticated and authorized API calls, TLS encryption, input validation, timeouts, retries with backoff, and circuit breakers. Service contracts, correlation IDs, centralized logging, and monitoring also help detect and troubleshoot failures.

How do you structure unit and integration tests for a TypeScript service using Jest or Mocha?

Unit tests should isolate business logic with mocked dependencies, while integration tests should verify real interactions with databases, queues, or HTTP components. I would include positive, negative, boundary, authorization, and failure-path scenarios and run them automatically in CI.

How would you optimize a SQL query used by a high-traffic REST API?

I would inspect the execution plan, verify appropriate indexes, reduce unnecessary columns and joins, and avoid inefficient patterns such as unbounded queries or N+1 access. I would also consider pagination, caching, connection-pool tuning, and measuring performance under realistic load.

What practices do you use to maintain backward compatibility when evolving APIs?

I preserve existing response fields and behavior whenever possible, introduce additive changes, and use explicit versioning for breaking changes. Contract tests, schema documentation, deprecation timelines, and consumer communication reduce integration risk.

How would you design a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions or Jenkins?

The pipeline should compile the application, run linting and unit and integration tests, perform security and dependency checks, build an immutable artifact, and deploy through controlled environments. I would add approvals, environment-specific configuration, rollback strategies, and deployment monitoring.

How do you handle failures and retries in distributed systems?

I distinguish transient failures from permanent errors, use bounded retries with exponential backoff and jitter, and apply timeouts and circuit breakers. Operations that may be retried should be idempotent, and failures should be observable through structured logs, metrics, and alerts.

What AWS capabilities would you use to operate a production backend service?

Depending on requirements, I might use API Gateway, Lambda or container services, RDS or DynamoDB, IAM, CloudWatch, and managed messaging services. I would apply least-privilege access, encryption, autoscaling, health checks, and infrastructure automation.

How would you use generative AI tools such as GitHub Copilot or Claude Code responsibly?

I would use them to accelerate scaffolding, test generation, refactoring, and documentation, but I would review all generated code for correctness, security, performance, licensing, and compliance with internal standards. Sensitive healthcare or member data should never be exposed to an unapproved tool.

CVS Health is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build and evolve backend member-support services that power Aetna Health’s web and mobile applications. You’ll design, develop, test, debug, and support REST APIs and microservices while collaborating with cross-functional teams on innovative digital healthcare solutions. The role is fully remote from Colorado and uses Node.js, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP, and CI/CD tools including GitHub Actions or Jenkins. With a salary range of $92,700–$185,400 plus incentive opportunities and comprehensive benefits, this is a chance to make healthcare simpler and more compassionate for millions of people.