Principal Architect - Remote or Hybrid in MN and DC

Job ID: 96564931168Posted: 2026-09-01Location: Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United StatesSalary: $134,600 - $230,800/yearJob Area: TechnologyCompany: UnitedHealth GroupOptum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? 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 a minimum of four days per week.Primary Responsibilities:Define and drive the data architecture for Optum Health's Risk Adjustment and Quality platformArchitect scalable, secure, and governed solutions that integrate claims, encounters, eligibility, provider, member, EHR, lab, pharmacy, and other clinical data into a unified data platformDesign canonical, logical, and physical data models for core healthcare domains such as member/patient, provider, coverage, diagnosis, condition, encounter, procedure, medication, lab result, risk score, quality measure, and gap statusLead architecture for data products and pipelines that support:Risk Adjustment FrameworkProspective and retrospective risk adjustment workflowsCoding capture and suspectingHEDIS / Stars / NCQA reporting and gap closureQuality performance analytics and operational workflowsEstablish architecture patterns for ingesting and normalizing data from:X12 transactions (e.g., 837, 835, 834, 270/271)HL7 v2/v3 and CCD/C-CDAFHIR APIs and bulk interoperability feedsEHR, practice management, payer, and external partner systemsPartner with business and domain leaders to ensure architecture supports the nuances of Medicare Advantage, quality programs, evolving CMS and NCQA requirements, and downstream operational use casesEnsure full alignment with HIPAA, PHI, privacy, security, access control, auditability, and data retention requirementsDefine and implement standards for data quality, lineage, metadata, semantic consistency, reconciliation, and traceability from source systems through measure/risk outputsDrive architecture decisions for identity resolution, provider and member mastering, source-of-truth alignment, and data harmonization across payer and provider ecosystemsCollaborate with data engineering and platform teams on cloud-native architecture patterns including warehouse design, API-led integration, event-driven patterns, and high-volume batch/near-real-time processingSupport audit-readiness for risk and quality programs, including traceability needed for RADV, NCQA validation/audits, and internal control frameworksLead architecture reviews, create reusable standards and design patterns, and mentor senior engineers and architects across the organizationCommunicate complex technical concepts clearly to executive, operational, and clinical stakeholdersYou'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.Required Qualifications:Undergraduate degree in applicable area of expertise or equivalent experience5+ years of experience in healthcare data architecture, data engineering, enterprise data, or information architecture, with increasing scope and seniorityDemonstrated experience supporting HEDIS, Stars, and NCQA quality data needs, including quality measure data sourcing, attribution, gap identification, and reporting architectureDemonstrated expertise with healthcare interoperability standards including: FHIR, HL7, X12Demonstrated solid data modeling skills, including canonical models, dimensional models, and data product/domain-oriented designPreferred Qualifications:Master's degree in a relevant technical or healthcare field2+ years in a lead or principal architecture role designing enterprise-scale healthcare data solutionsExperience designing solutions on modern cloud data platforms and enterprise data ecosystemsExperience establishing or enforcing data governance disciplines such as lineage, metadata, data quality controls, stewardship, and source-to-target traceabilityExperience in Medicare Advantage and other value-based care environmentsExperience with RAPS/EDPS, chart review data, coding operations, or provider documentation improvement workflowsExperience supporting digital quality initiatives, eCQMs, CQL, or FHIR-based quality measurementExperience with provider clinical systems such as Epic, Cerner/Oracle Health, or other enterprise EHR platformsExperience with modern cloud technologies and tools such as Snowflake, Databricks, Azure, GCP, dbt, Kafka, or comparable platformsExperience with master data management, enterprise MPI/EMPI, or identity resolution frameworksExperience working in highly regulated, large-scale healthcare enterprises with complex partner ecosystemsSolid knowledge of HIPAA/PHI requirements and secure data design principles including minimum necessary access, role-based controls, encryption, audit logging, and de-identification where appropriateWorking familiarity with CCD/C-CDA and broader clinical exchange patternsDemonstrated expertise in healthcare data architecture across payer, provider, or integrated care settingsDemonstrated domain expertise in CMS-HCC / RAF, including the data structures, workflows, and controls required to support risk adjustment use casesExposure to AI/ML-enabled use cases such as risk suspecting, gap prioritization, or clinical NLP*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter PolicyPay 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 $134,600 to $230,800 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.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.UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.