Principal Data Engineering

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design and implement cloud-native data platforms (e.g., Azure Data Lake, Databricks, Snowflake) with batch, streaming
• Build robust pipelines using Python/Scala, Spark, SQL, Kafka, and orchestration (Azure Data Factory)
• Design and deploy REST/GraphQL APIs for curated data products, ML inference, and feature services
• Optimize cost, performance, and reliability; implement observability (lineage, logging, metrics, alerting)
• Advanced understanding of data architecture and cloud solutions, especially in Azure
• Mentor a team of engineers; define coding standards, reviews, and engineering OKRs
• Translate business needs into scalable data solutions or products, manage stakeholder expectations and delivery timelines
• Comply with all applicable Company policies, procedures, and business directives, changes including those relating to work location, team assignments, work schedules, and flexible work arrangements

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field

12+ years of professional experience in data engineering, data products development, AI tools, including technical leadership

Hands-on Data Engineering Lead to architect, build, and scale modern data platforms that power analytics, AI, and real-time APIs

Hands-on experience with AI Tools or platforms, building and deploying AI models for analytics leveraging LLM, RAG and Gen AI

Data Engineering Expertise: Hands-on experience with Azure, Apache Spark, Databricks (using Scala and Python), and Azure Data Factory

Database Management: Solid experience with SQL and NoSQL databases for efficient data storage and querying

Version Control: Proficiency with Git or similar systems

Agile & Testing: Familiarity with Agile methodologies, unit testing, and test automation frameworks

AI: GitHub Copilot, M365 Copilot, LLM Models, Gen AI

Solution Architecture: Ability to design, implement, and integrate solutions with robust data security measures

Performance Optimization: Ensure cross-browser compatibility and optimize applications for scalability and high performance

Server-Side Development: Design, develop, and maintain API services and server-side applications

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.