Principal Data Engineer - Remote, Azure & AI Pipelines

Optum; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Optum is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to design and develop scalable cloud data systems in Azure, enabling secure data access and AI-enabled insights. You will lead ETL/ELT pipelines, Spark workflows, and modern data platforms to support ML, analytics, and automation across healthcare data ecosystems.

The role is remote within the United States with CST hours; some offices in DC/Minneapolis may require in-person days.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, data integration, data modeling

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable cloud data systems in Azure
• Build and optimize large-scale data pipelines using Azure Databricks, Snowflake, and Spark
• Deploy AI-enabled data products, dashboards, and BI reporting
• Mentor and lead data engineers, providing technical direction
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into data solutions
• Ensure data quality, security, and privacy at scale
• Evaluate emerging trends to inform architecture and tooling
• Define standards for data collections, integrations, and governance

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Optum is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to design and develop scalable cloud data systems in Azure, enabling secure data access and AI-enabled insights. You will lead ETL/ELT pipelines, Spark workflows, and modern data platforms to support ML, analytics, and automation across healthcare data ecosystems.

The role is remote within the United States with CST hours; some offices in DC/Minneapolis may require in-person days.