Principal DevOps / Data Engineer

The Role:

Alder is building an intelligence-first operating system for eldercare, on AWS with a data lakehouse at its core. The Principal DevOps & Data Engineer is a hybrid role that owns two tightly linked things: the platform that runs on (multi-account AWS, EKS, CI/CD, observability, security controls) and the data infrastructure that turns events and legacy system feeds into trusted, analytics-ready data (S3 medallion lakehouse, dbt, Athena). You will work alongside our data engineer and application engineers, and you will be the person who makes the platform reliable, compliant and cheap to operate while the data layer becomes the foundation for intelligence features.

Responsibilities:

• Own and evolve AWS multi-account environment (Dev, Preprod, Prod, Internal Tools, Management, Data & Analytics), IAM Identity Center and HIPAA-aligned guardrails.
• Run the Kubernetes platform (EKS, Istio) and GitLab CI/CD pipelines: deployments, environments, secrets, rollbacks and developer tooling.
• Define infrastructure as code (Terraform or CDK) so every environment is reproducible and auditable.
• Build observability, alerting and incident response practices; drive reliability, cost and security improvements across services.
• Operate the data lakehouse on S3 with medallion layers, dbt transformations and Athena, including ingestion from PostgreSQL event streams and legacy systems.
• Build and schedule reliable, tested data pipelines with clear data contracts, lineage and quality checks; support BI and analytics consumers.
• Partner with application engineers on event-sourced data models and with the data engineer on warehouse models and reporting.
• Implement PHI/PII handling in data and platform layers: encryption, access control, de-identification, retention and audit logging.
• Document runbooks and standards; mentor the team on DevOps and data engineering practices.

Required skills:

• 8+ years across DevOps/platform engineering and data engineering, with hands-on depth in both.
• Strong AWS experience: multi-account organizations, IAM, networking, EKS or equivalent Kubernetes, S3, Athena/Glue or similar.
• Infrastructure as code (Terraform, CDK or CloudFormation) and CI/CD pipeline design (GitLab CI preferred).
• Production Kubernetes operations, including service mesh, autoscaling, secrets and observability (Prometheus/Grafana, OpenTelemetry or similar).
• Data engineering fundamentals: SQL, data modeling, batch and streaming pipelines.
• Proficiency in Python and shell scripting; comfortable reading Java services.
• Security and compliance mindset; experience operating systems that handle regulated or sensitive data.
• Clear written and verbal communication; able to work in a hybrid, small-team environment in Greater Boston.

Qualifications:

• HIPAA experience or work in healthcare, eldercare or another regulated industry.
• Experience with PostgreSQL change data capture, event sourcing or Kafka-style streaming.
• Experience with Istio, Valkey/Redis, and AWS Cognito.
• Familiarity with BI tooling (QuickSight, Metabase, Looker or similar) and analytics for CRM and telephony data.
• Experience supporting ML or LLM workloads and data pipelines for AI features.
• Prior startup or early-stage team experience.

Why Work at Alder?

At Alder, we value our team as our greatest asset. We offer a supportive, mission-driven work environment where your contributions make a meaningful impact every day. 

Our comprehensive benefits and employee perks include:

• Competitive compensation
• Flexible work schedules and hybrid work opportunities
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Professional development support and continuing education reimbursement
• A collaborative, inclusive culture focused on employee well-being and growth

Join us in making a positive difference in the lives of older adults by fostering engagement, connection, and support within the community!

In accordance with the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act, the expected pay range for this position is $175,000-$195,000 annually. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as education, years of experience, and other relevant qualifications.