Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Tech develops technology solutions that improve health care through data analytics, AI, and cybersecurity. The Principal Data Engineer will lead the design, development, modernization, and governance of enterprise-scale Azure data platforms, while providing technical leadership and mentoring engineering teams. The role also focuses on cloud-native architecture, Snowflake analytics solutions, infrastructure automation, and AI-powered engineering capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Architect and implement scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions on Microsoft Azure
- Design and develop enterprise data pipelines using Azure Data Factory (ADF), Azure SQL, Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS), Azure Functions, and related Azure services
- Lead the design and optimization of data warehouse and analytics solutions using Snowflake
- Establish data engineering standards, governance, and best practices for enterprise-wide adoption
- Develop Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform to automate cloud deployments and environment management
- Drive modernization initiatives, including migration of legacy platforms to cloud-native architectures
- Design, build, and integrate AI agents and intelligent automation solutions to accelerate data development, testing, documentation, and operational support
- Collaborate with business stakeholders, architects, product owners, and engineering teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions
- Provide technical leadership, code reviews, mentorship, and guidance to distributed engineering teams
- Ensure platform reliability, security, compliance, and cost optimization
Skills
- 10+ years of experience in data engineering and data architecture, with a proven track record of delivering enterprise-scale data solutions
- 10+ years of experience in data modeling, performance tuning, data governance, and data security
- 7+ years of experience designing large-scale enterprise data lakes, data warehouses, and analytics solutions
- 7+ years of experience implementing CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices for data platforms
- 5+ years of hands-on experience with modern cloud data platforms and engineering tools, including:
- Azure Data Factory (ADF)
- Azure SQL
- Snowflake Data Platform
- Terraform and Infrastructure as Code
- Python, SQL, and data engineering frameworks
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field
- Experience developing and deploying AI-powered agents to improve engineering productivity
- Experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, and AI orchestration frameworks
- Experience leading geographically distributed teams
- Knowledge of Databricks, Spark, Azure OpenAI, and machine learning workflows
Benefits
- Flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S.
- A comprehensive benefits package
- Incentive and recognition programs
- Equity stock purchase
- 401k contribution
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