Principal Data Engineer

Role Description

Join Humana in our mission to put health first by advancing data-driven, connected care across the healthcare ecosystem. As a Principal Data Engineer, you will build and lead an enterprise Integration & Interoperability Center of Excellence (COE)—owning the architecture that connects claims, clinical, pharmacy, and provider workflows at scale, and delivers real-time insights into EMRs at the point of care.

If you've worked on platforms at Optum, Change Healthcare, CVS Health, or Elevance Health—this role gives you end-to-end ownership to define the next-generation interoperability layer vs. optimizing a single piece of it.

What You'll Own

• Build the Integration & Interoperability COE
• Stand up and lead a centralized COE for integrations, interoperability, and data exchange
• Define enterprise standards across:
  • FHIR-first and API-first architectures
  • Event-driven patterns (Kafka, streaming, real-time triggers)
  • Canonical data models across payer + provider domains
  • Rationalize and modernize legacy integration patterns (ETL, flat files, point-to-point)
• Architect pipelines across:
  • Claims (837/835), Eligibility (834), Authorizations, Encounters
  • Clinical data (Epic, Cerner, Athena)
  • Pharmacy (PBM), labs, ADT feeds, HIE integrations
• Enable near real-time ingestion and bidirectional data exchange
• Solve for identity, matching, and longitudinal member record creation
• Push insights directly into EMRs:
  • Care gaps (HEDIS) surfaced during visits
  • Suspected conditions (HCC) at time of documentation
  • Utilization signals (ED/IP events) via ADT feeds
• Build FHIR APIs, SMART on FHIR integrations, and event triggers that actually get used by providers
• Build data products that influence:
  • Star Ratings performance (Medicare Advantage)
  • HEDIS gap closure at scale
  • Risk adjustment accuracy and recapture
• Move from retrospective reporting → prospective, actionable insights
• Design cloud-native platforms leveraging:
  • AWS / Azure / GCP
  • Spark, Kafka, Databricks, Delta Lake
• Implement data observability (freshness, lineage, quality)
• Ensure HIPAA-compliant, secure, governed architectures
• Act as a bridge between engineering, clinical, and business teams
• Influence roadmap across interoperability, data platforms, and AI
• Mentor teams and elevate engineering standards across the org

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data engineering, with deep healthcare experience
• Experience at scale in organizations like:
  • Optum / Change Healthcare
  • CVS Health / Elevance Health
• Proven track record building integration platforms, not just pipelines
• Strong expertise in:
  • FHIR (R4), HL7v2, CCDA, ADT, APIs
  • Streaming + batch architectures
• Hands-on with:
  • Python / Scala / Java
  • Spark, Kafka, SQL
  • Cloud-native data platforms
• Deep understanding of:
  • Claims, clinical, and pharmacy data models
  • HEDIS, Star Ratings, Risk Adjustment (HCC)
• Experience integrating with EMRs and provider workflows

Requirements

• You’ve tried to modernize legacy healthcare integrations—and know where they break
• You’ve seen the gap between data platforms and provider adoption
• You want to build systems that actually change behavior at the point of care
• You’re ready to move from incremental improvements → foundational transformation

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision benefits
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Time off (including paid time off, company and personal holidays, volunteer time off, paid parental and caregiver leave)
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Life insurance
• Many other opportunities

Additional Information

• Location/Work Style: Remote in Frisco/Dallas, TX area
• Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40
• Pay Range: $172,200 - $236,900 per year
• This job is eligible for a bonus incentive plan based upon company and/or individual performance.