Senior Python Backend & Healthcare Tech Lead

James Gale

Austin, TX · **********@*******.***

737-***-**** · https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-g-59193b448 PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Senior software engineer with 12 years of experience building Python backend systems, with a focus on reliable APIs and asynchronous processing for healthcare platforms. Bring hands-on FastAPI, Django, Celery, Redis, and AWS experience, along with a track record of improving data processing performance and leading teams through production delivery. WORK EXPERIENCE

CVS Health Woonsocket, RI

Senior Software Engineer / Tech Lead 01/2022 – 09/2026

· Led the design and modernization of Python-based services within a healthcare interoperability and care coordination platform using Django, Django REST Framework, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, and AWS to support longitudinal member records, clinical data exchange, care gap identification, and care management workflows.

· Designed and implemented Python/Django microservices using DDD and event-driven architecture, separating member, encounter, medication, and care plan services to improve maintainability and independent deployment.

· Built RESTful healthcare APIs using Django REST Framework, FastAPI, Pydantic, and FHIR R4 to exchange patient demographics, diagnoses, medications, and care plans across internal and partner systems.

· Designed and developed React and TypeScript care management dashboards backed by Django REST Framework and FastAPI, enabling teams to review member histories and care gaps.

· Optimized PostgreSQL and Django ORM performance through SQL query tuning, indexing, partitioning, materialized views, and Redis caching, reducing patient record retrieval time by 30% and improving reporting efficiency.

· Engineered HL7 v2, FHIR R4, and C-CDA integrations with Python and JSON/XML transformations to normalize clinical records and laboratory results, improving data consistency and interoperability.

· Developed ETL pipelines using Python, Pandas, PySpark, Airflow, AWS Glue, and S3 to process claims and clinical data, reducing processing time by 25% and improving data quality.

· Engineered healthcare search and analytics services using Python, Django, and Amazon OpenSearch Service, optimizing data indexing and search queries to accelerate clinical record retrieval and claims analysis.

· Implemented event-driven workflows using Kafka, Celery, Redis, and AWS SQS, adding idempotency and retry handling to improve clinical update reliability and reduce message-processing failures by 25%.

· Developed Python analytics using Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, and XGBoost to analyze clinical and claims data, supporting population health reporting and care management decisions.

· Integrated AI/ML-powered healthcare services using Python, FastAPI, AWS Bedrock, OpenAI APIs, LangChain, LangGraph, Hugging Face embedding models, and pgvector to deliver RAG-based document summarization and secure knowledge retrieval.

· Implemented OAuth 2.0, OIDC, JWT, RBAC, encryption, and audit logging with AWS IAM to safeguard ePHI and support HIPAA-aligned access controls.

· Deployed containerized Python/Django services on AWS EKS using Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and Helm, improving infrastructure consistency and deployment reliability.

· Implemented DevSecOps practices using Git and GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines to automate Python/Django testing, Docker builds, vulnerability scanning, and AWS deployments, improving security and release reliability.

· Improved reliability with OpenTelemetry, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, and CloudWatch for tracing and monitoring, alongside pytest, Postman, Playwright, and k6 for automated testing.

· Led a team of 6 developers through system design, code reviews, mentoring, and production support, partnering with healthcare stakeholders to deliver reliable applications.

Elation Health San Francisco, CA

Senior Software Engineer 01/2017 – 12/2021

· Designed and developed scalable Python/Django services for a physician-focused Electronic Health Records (EHR) platform using Django REST Framework, PostgreSQL, and AWS to support longitudinal patient records, clinical documentation, appointment management, and primary care workflows.

· Engineered REST APIs using Django REST Framework and Flask with validation, serialization, pagination, and error handling to connect EHR services with labs and practice management systems.

· Implemented Celery background tasks with RabbitMQ and Redis for lab notifications, appointment reminders, and integration retries, keeping physician workflows responsive.

· Optimized PostgreSQL and Django ORM queries using indexing, migrations, and Redis caching to improve patient chart access and clinical record retrieval.

· Designed and developed AngularJS and later React/TypeScript EHR interfaces integrated with Django REST APIs, including patient charts, documentation forms, and scheduling tools.

· Built Python validation workflows for ICD-10-CM, LOINC, SNOMED CT, and RxNorm data to standardize diagnoses, lab observations, and medication records.

· Expanded testing with pytest, unittest, Postman, and Selenium, using New Relic and CloudWatch to detect performance issues and troubleshoot integration failures.

Virtusa Westborough, MA

Software Engineer 09/2014 – 11/2016

· Developed and maintained backend functionality for enterprise web applications using Python, Django, and Flask, implementing reusable application components, server-side business logic, and object-oriented programming principles while following established coding standards and application architecture.

· Developed AngularJS, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX, HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap interfaces connected to Django REST APIs, supporting interactive enterprise workflows.

· Created Python utilities for JSON, XML, and CSV processing, validating and transforming data for REST and SOAP-based enterprise integrations.

· Supported Linux deployments on AWS EC2 using Nginx, Gunicorn, and S3, assisting with Git, Jenkins automation, and production troubleshooting.

SKILLS

• Backend Development: Python, FastAPI, Django, Django REST Framework, Flask

• Asynchronous Processing: Celery, Redis, AWS SQS, Kafka, RabbitMQ

• Databases and Data Processing: PostgreSQL, SQL, Pandas, PySpark, Airflow

• Cloud and Infrastructure: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Amazon S3

• Testing and Delivery: pytest, unittest, GitHub Actions, Git, Postman

• Architecture and Security: REST APIs, Microservices, Event-Driven Architecture, OAuth 2.0, RBAC

• Observability: OpenTelemetry, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch

EDUCATION

University of North Texas

Bachelor of Science Computer Science

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