Principal Data Engineer - Remote

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 inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization 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.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design and lead the evolution of enterprise scale data platforms
• Own end to end architecture for batch and streaming pipelines
• Set data engineering standards and best practices across teams
• Review and approve complex technical designs
• Influence platform strategy and long term technical roadmap
• Mentor senior engineers and technical leaders
• Partner with product, analytics, and security teams to deliver data solutions
• Build multi agent AI solutions to drive efficiencies in rev cycle workflows
• Technical Expertise
• Data Architecture & Platforms
  • Deep experience designing distributed, scalable data systems
  • Expertise in batch and streaming architectures
  • Experience building agentic workflows using Databricks AgentBricks or LangGraph
  • Solid knowledge of:
    • Data lakes, lakehouse architectures
    • OLAP vs OLTP systems
    • Event driven and real time data processing
• Programming & Frameworks
  • Expert level proficiency in Python, Java, or Scala
  • Advanced experience with frameworks such as:
    • Apache Spark / PySpark
    • Kafka / Pulsar
  • Solid SQL skills (optimization, query planning, performance tuning)
• Cloud & Infrastructure
  • Hands on experience with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
  • Deep understanding of:
    • Cloud native data services (e.g., Databricks, Redshift, Synapse, Snowflake)
    • Object storage (S3 / ADLS / GCS)
    • IAM, networking, security, cost optimization
• Data Engineering Tooling
  • ETL/ELT tools and orchestration (Airflow, Dagster, dbt)
  • Schema modeling (dimensional, data vault, event modeling)
  • Data quality, observability, and lineage tools
• System Design & Ownership
  • Own end to end data system design, from ingestion to consumption
  • Make architecture decisions that balance scalability, cost, reliability, and usability
  • Define data standards, best practices, and reference architectures
  • Review and approve complex technical designs across teams
• Data Governance, Security & Compliance
  • Solid understanding of:
    • Data governance frameworks
    • Data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA depending on domain)
    • Access controls, encryption, PHI, PII handling
    • Design systems with compliance built in, not bolted on
• Leadership & Influence (Core to Principal Level)
  • Act as a technical authority across multiple teams
  • Mentor senior and junior engineers
  • Influence roadmaps and long term platform strategy
  • Partner with:
    • Product management
    • Platform teams
    • Security, privacy, and compliance stakeholders
  • Drive alignment without direct authority
• Operational Excellence
  • Experience running mission critical data systems
  • Design for:
    • High availability
    • Fault tolerance
    • Disaster recovery
  • Lead incident reviews and postmortems
  • Define SLAs, SLOs, and operational metrics for data platforms

You'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:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field (Master's preferred)
• 8+ years of professional experience in data engineering, software engineering, or platform engineering
• 3+ years in a technical leadership capacity (principal, staff, lead, or architect roles)
• Proven track record of designing and scaling enterprise grade data platforms

*All employees working remotely 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 to $193,200 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.