Senior Data Engineer

About Sidekick Health Sidekick Health is a leader in digital health, combining clinical expertise, behavioral science, and cutting-edge technology to drive meaningful health outcomes. Our Data Engineering team builds and maintains the secure, scalable pipelines and infrastructure necessary to process, analyze, and manage our global health data. We maintain the highest standards of security and compliance, including HITRUST certification. The Opportunity We are seeking a highly skilled and disciplined Senior Data Engineer to join our team in Minneapolis, MN. This is a critical and unique role where your core responsibilities will focus on data infrastructure, data processing, pipeline development, and data architecture . You will also serve as the essential onshore engineering resource authorized to perform operational tasks that require direct, timely access to Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) within our US production environment. Note: This is a remote position based in or near Minneapolis, MN, requiring collaboration across time zones as part of a global development team, the majority of which is in Europe, and therefore requires working according to CET business hours . Key Responsibilities 1. Core Data Engineering & Infrastructure (Primary Focus) Pipeline & Processing Development: Design, build, and maintain robust, scalable, and secure data pipelines (ETL/ELT) using technologies like SQL and Python to ingest, clean, transform, and process clinical and operational data for downstream consumption. Architecture & Modeling: Evolve our data infrastructure and data models within our Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) , ensuring optimal performance, integrity, and security for sensitive data at rest and in transit. Compliance-Focused Tooling: Develop and implement automation for data governance, quality checks, and compliant data masking/anonymization processes, helping to secure data consumption by internal and external teams. Performance: Optimize data warehouse performance and query execution, specifically for reporting and analytical datasets.# 2. Compliant DevOps & Production Support (Specialized Focus) PHI Access and Incident Response: Act as the designated and highly privileged onshore resource for troubleshooting and resolving escalated production incidents or data integrity issues that necessitate direct, immediate access to live PHI/PII data within the data infrastructure. Secure Operations: Execute sensitive operational tasks, database migrations, configuration changes, and pipeline validations where interaction with PHI/PII data is unavoidable. Protocol Leadership: Enforce and document strict adherence to all internal security policies, HITRUST requirements, and client-specific data handling protocols. Maintain comprehensive and accurate audit trails for all privileged access activities. Qualifications Required Technical & Experience Experience & Drive: 5+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Backend Engineer focusing on data processing pipelines. Must be a proactive, self-driven engineer capable of moving projects forward independently. Data Stack: Strong proficiency in Python is preferred. Expertise with relational and NoSQL databases, data warehousing concepts, and data modeling. Platform: Experience with Kubernetes and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) . Cloud & Infrastructure: Proven experience with cloud data platforms (preferably Google Cloud or AWS), including tools such as BigQuery, and a good understanding of infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform). Required Compliance & Soft Skills Integrity & Commitment: Exceptional personal integrity and a deep professional commitment to data privacy. Healthcare Compliance: Must have experience or strong working knowledge of healthcare data regulations ( HIPAA , HITRUST ). Operational Principles: Conceptual understanding of the trade-offs and methodologies involved in balancing development velocity with robust operational practices. Location: Must be based in or near Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA , and authorized to work in the US. Prior experience building production systems that handle large volumes of clinical or health data. Familiarity with DaaS/VDI environments and strict security jump box protocols. Our Culture: Inclusion, belonging, flexibility, and growth are core to how we work . Everyone is encouraged to become the best version of themselves. Feeling valued and fulfilled at work should be the norm. Challenges are opportunities – both personal and professional growth are part of the journey. A healthy work-life balance is essential , not just a nice-to-have. Empathy and social sensitivity are qualities we actively look for in our team members. Diverse teams simply perform better – and we build with that in mind. We believe in getting to know each other on a personal level . Our goal is to make a meaningful, positive impact on the lives of others. Benefits: 401k match, health insurance, generous PTO, top technology, flexible working hours, access to Sidekick health programs, and more!