Senior Data Engineer

Optum is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to support Employer and Individual (E&I) HEDIS Retrospective data processing and broader cloud modernization efforts. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain scalable cloud-based data engineering solutions that enable healthcare quality reporting, operational excellence, and regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and support scalable cloud-based data engineering solutions and automated data pipelines
• Build and optimize data integration frameworks, ETL processes, data transformations, and SQL-based solutions for healthcare analytics and HEDIS reporting
• Implement enterprise-approved AI, GenAI, and Agentic AI capabilities to automate data engineering workflows, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen data quality
• Translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Support HEDIS measure processing, quality reporting initiatives, regulatory compliance needs, and operational service-level commitments
• Collaborate with business stakeholders, product teams, auditors, and subject matter experts to resolve technical issues, validate data quality, and deliver outcomes successfully
• Investigate production issues, conduct root-cause analysis, and implement sustainable corrective actions
• Apply engineering best practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, code reviews, version control, and quality assurance processes
• Contribute to cloud migration and modernization across healthcare data platforms
• Ensure solutions incorporate data governance, security, and auditability aligned with regulatory requirements
• Monitor and optimize data pipeline performance, reliability, scalability, and operational effectiveness
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to other engineers while operating as a senior individual contributor

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in the health insurance industry supporting HEDIS programs, healthcare analytics, quality reporting, or healthcare data engineering initiatives
• 5+ years of experience with HEDIS concepts, quality measures, measure engines, and healthcare data domains, including Member, Eligibility, Medical, Pharmacy (Rx), and Clinical data across Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial lines of business
• 5+ years of experience working with on-premise or cloud-based SQL databases in a business, research, healthcare, or analytical environment
• 3+ years of experience designing, developing, and supporting cloud-based data engineering solutions, automated data pipelines, and large-scale data processing workflows
• 3+ years of Agile/Kanban delivery experience, including unit testing, TDD, CI/CD, automated testing, and code reviews
• 1+ years of experience evaluating, implementing, or deploying AI, GenAI, Agentic AI, or intelligent automation capabilities within enterprise technical workflows
• Experience partnering with business stakeholders, auditors, product teams, and technical partners to deliver solutions and resolve issues
• Proven ability to support regulatory compliance reporting, business SLAs, and operational commitments in a regulated healthcare environment
• Demonstrated skill in troubleshooting complex technical and data-quality issues and driving effective resolution
• Ability to communicate complex technical and methodological concepts to non-technical business partners

Technologies

• AI, GenAI, Agentic AI
• ETL, SQL
• CI/CD, Agile, Kanban, TDD
• Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)
• Databricks, Azure

Location and Compensation

Eden Prairie, MN (remote). Salary range is USD 91,700 - 163,700 per year.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package
• Incentive and recognition programs
• Equity stock purchase
• 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements)

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Health Informatics, Information Systems, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)
• Experience supporting cloud migration initiatives for large-scale healthcare data processing platforms
• Experience building and integrating production-ready AI capabilities into cloud-based data engineering architectures and workflows
• Experience with FHIR standards and clinical data integrations
• Experience supporting NCQA reporting processes and quality-measure implementations
• Experience with Databricks, Azure cloud technologies, and modern healthcare data platforms
• Experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership across cross-functional teams