Principal Data Engineer

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 diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office for a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership for analytics engineering, owning solution design, implementation, and operationalization across enterprise analytics platforms
• Design, build, and optimize scalable analytics pipelines using modern data platforms (e.g., Databricks)
• Develop and govern business intelligence solutions (e.g., Power BI), including semantic models, dashboards, and executive reporting
• Partner with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to define metrics and enable data driven decision making
• Apply advanced analytics and AI enabled insights to surface trends, risks, and opportunities
• Ensure data quality, lineage, security, and governance across analytics assets
• Optimize performance through efficient data modeling, query tuning, and pipeline optimization
• Collaborate within global delivery models and provide technical guidance to analytics engineers
• Participate in analytics platform partner sessions and workshops to stay aligned with platform capabilities and best practices

You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear directions on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, Data Architecture, Software Engineering, or related disciplines
• 5+ years of cloud experience (Azure, GCP, AWS, or similar platforms)
• 4+ years of hands‑on experience with Databricks or similar tools, using Python and/or PySpark and SQL to build scalable applications and solutions
• 3+ years of experience delivering AI-driven data solutions
• 3+ years of experience working within enterprise environments with a strong focus on scalability, reliability, security, and governance
• 3+ years of proven track record of leading large‑scale technical initiatives, collaborating effectively with business and technology stakeholders, influencing architecture decisions across multiple teams, and driving enterprise‑wide engineering best practices

Preferred Qualifications:

• Healthcare industry experience with healthcare interoperability standards such as FHIR, HL7, or related healthcare data models
• Experience building cloud‑native applications, APIs, or data products or supporting solutions using visualization tools like Power BI, Tableau or similar tools
• Experience working with Databricks Lakehouse architecture and distributed data processing platforms
• Excellent communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills
• Demonstrated experience working in global delivery models with effective onshore‑offshore collaboration

*All Telecommuters will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $112,700 - $193,200 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Application Deadline:

This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.

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