A

Altarum

Nonprofit improving health for underserved populations

Technical Lead - Learning Platforms

Full-Time
$126k - $152.1k/yr
Senior
Bachelor's
Remote in USA
RemoteRemote, with occasional in-person collaboration days; non-local employees may occasionally be asked to attend in person.
Software EngineeringFull-Stack Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • At least 7 years of professional software development experience, including significant recent hands-on coding experience.
  • Strong experience developing and maintaining production web applications using modern development technologies and frameworks.
  • Hands-on experience with PHP and the ability to work effectively across multiple technologies and languages as needed.
  • Strong experience building, extending, or integrating learning management systems, including APIs, single sign-on, learning content standards, and related data flows.
  • Experience leading developers technically while continuing to contribute directly to the codebase.
  • Strong experience with APIs, third-party integrations, and identity and access technologies such as OpenID Connect or Security Assertion Markup Language.
  • Experience working in a multi-tenant, multi-client, or shared-platform environment.
  • Demonstrated experience with automated testing, version control, continuous integration and continuous delivery, and modern software development practices.
  • Experience working in Scrum, Agile, or a similar iterative delivery model.
  • Practical experience using AI-assisted development tools, such as AI coding assistants, large language model-based automation, or agentic development workflows, with sound judgment about where these tools add value.
  • Ability to explain technical concepts, implementation decisions, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Responsibilities
  • Write, review, test, and ship production-quality code as a senior, hands-on member of the engineering team.
  • Lead the day-to-day technical work of developers through code reviews, technical guidance, mentoring, and engineering standards.
  • Design, build, and maintain integrations involving learning management systems, including single sign-on, APIs, learning content standards, and related data flows.
  • Implement and maintain platform features, state-specific configurations, and reusable functionality within a shared multi-client environment.
  • Partner with platform leadership on technical architecture and implementation decisions, raising risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early.
  • Lead development practices around branching, releases, automated testing, continuous integration and continuous delivery, documentation, performance, security, and accessibility, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA and Section 508 requirements.
  • Facilitate Agile team practices, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, stand-ups, and retrospectives, while helping manage sprint commitments, team capacity, and delivery goals.
  • Partner with product owners and product managers to break work into clear, estimable stories and maintain a ready, prioritized backlog.
  • Help remove technical blockers and identify practical solutions that keep delivery moving.
  • Use AI-assisted development tools for coding, testing, review, documentation, automation, and other appropriate development workflows.
  • Help establish responsible and effective standards for the team's use of AI development tools.
  • Integrate identity and access solutions using technologies and standards such as Auth0, OpenID Connect, and Security Assertion Markup Language.
  • Communicate and present technical decisions, implementation progress, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical stakeholders, including product, program, executive, client, and state-agency audiences.
  • Contribute technical input to estimates, solutioning, build-versus-buy decisions, and future platform capabilities.
  • Document technical decisions and implementations so knowledge is shared across the team and does not depend on any one individual.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with Moodle, including custom plugins, integrations, configuration, or platform extensions.
  • Experience with Drupal or another PHP-based content management system, including custom module or theme development.
  • Experience building or integrating artificial intelligence or large language model capabilities into production applications, including considerations related to evaluation and responsible use.
  • Experience with reporting, business intelligence tools, analytics, or data pipelines.
  • Experience supporting government, health care, human services, or public-sector technology programs.
  • Familiarity with long-term services and supports, home- and community-based services, or direct care workforce programs.
  • Experience working with state agencies or cross-functional teams that include product, program, policy, data, security, and vendor partners.
  • Certified ScrumMaster, Professional Scrum Master, or similar Agile certification.

About the company

A

Altarum

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Website

Altarum is a nonprofit that helps improve health for people with fewer financial resources and other underserved groups by working with federal, state, and local governments to plan and implement public health and health care programs. It provides technical assistance, practice transformation, training, quality improvement, applied research and analytics, health communications, data modernization and interoperability, and technology development and implementation to design, run, and improve programs. It differentiates itself through a long public-sector track record since 1946, a nonprofit mission, and an integrated set of services across four divisions that are tailored to government and public health systems rather than offering a single product. Its goal is to achieve better health outcomes for all, with a focus on vulnerable populations, through sustained improvements and partnerships with leading health institutions.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Alexandria, Virginia

Founded

1946

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • On August 14, 2026, HRSA expanded CMMP into six new states and territories.
  • Altarum won AWS's 2025 Imagine Grant for PHusion, targeting early-2027 pilots.
  • January 15, 2026 hires Jonas Shoor and Melvin Crum strengthen interoperability and AI execution.

What critics are saying

  • Revelio Labs shows headcount fell 33.7% from 2023 to March 2026.
  • Altarum depends on HRSA, NIH, and state contracts; budget cuts hit revenue fast.
  • If federal public-health procurement stalls, Altarum's AI pivot becomes a stranded-services business.

What makes Altarum unique

  • Since March 2026, Altarum built a Health Data and AI Center of Excellence.
  • Altarum runs CMMP, a HRSA-backed 5-year Medicaid, CHIP, and Title V partnership.
  • Palladian Partners gives Altarum communications and federal public-engagement delivery inside one organization.

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Benefits

  • Hybrid Work Options

Company News

Altarum
Aug 14th, 2026
States and territories selected for second State Technical Assistance Cohort (STAC) through the Center for Maternal and Child Health and Medicaid Partnerships (CMMP).

States and territories selected for second State Technical Assistance Cohort (STAC) through the Center for Maternal and Child Health and Medicaid Partnerships (CMMP). August 14, 2026 Kansas, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Indiana, Washington, Illinois, and Nevada were selected to participate in the second State Technical Assistance Cohort (STAC) convened through the Center for Maternal and Child Health and Medicaid Partnerships (CMMP). Over the next 12 months, participants will engage members of their Medicaid, Title V, and CHIP agencies in individualized technical assistance (TA) and peer learning opportunities designed to strengthen cross-agency collaboration. Each team will identify cross-agency priority areas, develop actionable plans aligned with these priorities, and work towards implementing strategies to improve outcomes for maternal and child health (MCH) populations. The STAC offers participants the opportunity to learn through one-on-one support with experts, practical tools, and expertise from their peers, helping them better align programs and resources to meet the needs of children and families. Working in a cohort fosters shared learning while supporting each state or territory in advancing their specific programs. Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), CMMP is led by Altarum in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), Family Voices, and the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP). The CMMP is a 5-year program that supports state Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Title V programs to effectively collaborate and advance MCH. In addition to the STAC, the CMMP offers numerous training and TA opportunities to all states, including direct, customized TA to improve interagency agreements (IAAs), advance innovative financing strategies, and build capacity for family engagement.

Altarum
Jan 15th, 2026
Altarum Appoints Jonas Shoor and Melvin Crum as Vice Presidents

Altarum appoints Jonas Shoor and Melvin Crum as Vice presidents. * home * news and insights * Altarum appoints Jonas Shoor and Melvin Crum as Vice presidents. Altarum announces the appointments of Jonas Shoor as Vice President of Public Health Technology and Melvin Crum as VP, Data and Artificial Intelligence. In these roles, they will lead strategic initiatives that strengthen Altarum's ability to modernize systems, harness data, and deliver better outcomes in the communities we serve. Jonas Shoor - Vice President of Public Health Technology Jonas is a healthcare technology executive with 20+ years leading interoperability initiatives, AI/ML integration, and data modernization across government health programs. He has proven ability to grow portfolios, drive delivery excellence, and translate federal mandates - including CMS interoperability rules and ONC certification requirements - into scalable, technical solutions. He is passionate about modernizing health data infrastructure to improve outcomes for under-resourced communities, Jonas has held portfolio leadership and growth roles at Gainwell, DXC Technology, HP Enterprise Services, and PwC. Melvin Crum - VP, Data and Artificial Intelligence Melvin is a data scientist and technology executive with 30+ years leading large-scale data, analytics, and modernization initiatives that deliver measurable results in public health. He has directed contracts exceeding $75M and technology portfolios totaling more than $2B, consistently transforming complex challenges into scalable, sustainable solutions. In addition to more than 30 years of critical data modernization work at CDC, Melvin brings consulting and operational expertise from firms such as EDS and Northrop Grumman, with a reputation for building high-performing teams and vendor partnerships to drive innovation and integration. Jonas and Melvin will accelerate standards-based interoperability, cloud-native modernization, and responsible AI - helping clients make faster and more secure decisions. Connect with Jonas at [email protected] and Melvin at [email protected].

Altarum
Dec 8th, 2025
Altarum Wins AWS Imagine Grant to Transform Disease Surveillance with AI

Altarum wins AWS Imagine Grant to transform disease surveillance with AI. * home * news and insights * Altarum wins AWS Imagine Grant to transform disease surveillance with AI. Novi, Michigan (12/08/2025): Altarum has been named a winner of the prestigious 2025 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant in the Go Further, Faster category, to develop PHusion, a real-time public health disease surveillance system. In collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Altarum will create the PHusion platform, combining generative AI and cloud services to tackle one of public health's most persistent challenges: fragmented data that slows response. "By combining Altarum's public health expertise with AWS's AI innovations, we're reimagining what's possible in epidemic response," says Altarum CEO Max Entman. "We see a future where health officials can intervene in hours instead of weeks - harnessing the best technology to protect communities and save lives." The Challenge: Fragmented Data, Slower Response Public health serves as a critical bulwark against disease outbreaks and environmental hazards, protecting community wellbeing and saving lives. To perform this critical role, public health agencies rely on disease surveillance systems to identify, track, and intervene against threats to community health. However, data that powers decisions arrives from laboratories, hospitals, clinics, and coroners' offices and flows into fragmented, siloed databases. PHusion will harmonize this data into a unified database, accelerating analysis, decision making, and intervention, improving overall public health, reducing disease transmission, and lowering the public cost-burden of disease treatment. Altarum's Solution: Unified Intelligence for Public Health Built on AWS' scalable infrastructure, the system will streamline data integration, reduce costs, and deliver actionable intelligence. Specifically, it will: * Integrate multiple public health reporting pipelines into a single, cohesive dashboard. * Use generative AI to automate data processing and extract data from questionnaires. * Leverage AWS SageMaker and AWS analytics to detect patterns and anomalies in real time. * Apply AI-enabled data safety protections to ensure HIPAA-level data security and privacy. * Provide a user-friendly interface that turns raw data into actionable insights - no technical expertise required. Why It Matters PHusion will transform days of manual work into seconds of automated analysis. Public health teams will be able to act more quickly, more precisely, and more proactively, spotting emerging threats before they escalate and deploying interventions that save lives. What's Next This project marks the beginning of a new era in disease surveillance - one powered by AI, cloud technology, and a commitment to faster, smarter public health interventions. Altarum's leadership and development teams are already at work to deliver a proof of concept by early 2027 and pilot programs are planned in collaboration with state health departments to modernize public health. With support from AWS, Altarum is building a future where no outbreak goes unnoticed and no community is left behind.

Altarum
Nov 6th, 2025
New White Paper: Improving Childhood Nutrition in the U.S. Through Innovation and Efficiency

New white paper: improving Childhood Nutrition in the U.S. Through innovation and efficiency. * home * news and insights * new white paper: improving Childhood Nutrition in the U.S. Through innovation and efficiency. Altarum, a mission-driven nonprofit, has released the Childhood Nutrition Journey Map 2025. Developed by our in-house team of experts, this white paper provides a clear, actionable overview of how children in the U.S. access nutritious food and related health supports, from pregnancy through adolescence. Despite decades of progress, many children and families still face obstacles to accessing healthy, affordable food. The journey map identifies key pain points, including complex enrollment processes, funding instability, and gaps in nutrition education, and shows how these challenges affect families at every stage of childhood. We're focused on making programs simpler and more effective for families. The journey map proposes the establishment of the Nutrition and Essential Supports Transformation Center, designed to increase program efficiency across federal agencies and help communities find new ways to support healthy childhood nutrition. The plan emphasizes emerging partnerships, alternative support pathways, and rigorous research to guide improvements. "We want nutritious food to be the easy, affordable choice for every family," says Max Entman, Altarum President and CEO. "By aligning federal, state, and local efforts, and educating about community-driven solutions, we can help children thrive and build healthier, more resilient communities." With decades of experience advising agencies on state and federal public health programs, Altarum brings deep expertise in designing and implementing solutions for populations with fewer financial resources. We use human-centered design and clear, evidence-based research to make sure our solutions are both practical and transformative. The journey map calls for collaboration among federal agencies, local organizations, and private partners. By working together, stakeholders can address cross-cutting barriers, promote whole, nutrient-dense diets, and reform food policies to better serve children and families. Together, these efforts can lead to healthier kids, lower chronic disease risk, and stronger, more self-sufficient families.

Altarum
Mar 14th, 2025
Jim St. Clair Joins Altarum as Vice President of Public Health Systems Division

Altarum announces the appointment of Jim St. Clair as Vice President of our Public Health Systems division.