Senior Data Engineer - Scheduling & Decisions Systems

Aspen Dental; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 129,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with match

Onsite Chicago office

Job summary

Aspen Dental is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to architect and build the data backbone powering scheduling platforms and patient-demand forecasting. Lead real-time and batch pipelines, collaborate with data scientists, and deliver reliable, scalable data solutions for clinical workflows.

You will develop feature stores, deploy models to production, and mentor junior engineers while staying current with ML and data engineering best practices.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in data engineering with Python and SQL.
• Deep experience with cloud data platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Proficient in workflow orchestration tools (Airflow/Prefect/Dagster).
• Experience in dimensional modeling and analytical data stores.

Responsibilities

• Design event-driven pipelines ingesting live patient data for real-time inference and propensity scoring.
• Maintain scalable batch processes for time-series analysis and ML workloads.
• Build clustering pipelines for patient segmentation for various uses.
• Transform availability data into inputs for optimization solvers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate requirements into ML specs.
• Deploy forecasting/optimization models with data scientists and engineers.
• Create feature stores for training and inference consistency.
• Ensure reverse ETL of model outputs into operational systems.
• Document tools and provide mentorship to junior engineers and data scientists.

Skills

Python

SQL

AWS

Azure

GCP

Airflow

Data Modeling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS, DS, Engineering, or related field

Tools

AWS Glue

AWS Lambda

AWS Kinesis

Azure Data Factory

Azure Synapse

GCP Dataflow

BigQuery

Job description

he Aspen Group (TAG) is one of the largest and most trusted retail healthcare business support organizations in the U.S., supporting over 23,000 healthcare professionals and team members at more than 1,150 locations across 48 states. Our five supported healthcare practices operate under the brands Aspen Dental, ClearChoice, WellNow, Chapter Aesthetic Studio, and Lovet. We’re committed to enabling healthcare professionals to focus on patient care while we handle the business operations that support them.

As part of our continued investment in data-driven innovation, we are looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join our growing team. In this high-impact role, you will architect and build the data backbone that powers our next-generation scheduling platforms and patient demand forecasting models. You will move beyond traditional reporting to build “intelligence pipelines”—systems that ingest real-time operational data, feed advanced optimization algorithms, and write actionable insights back into clinical workflows.

If you are passionate about using data to reduce patient wait times, optimize provider utilization, and ensure the right resources are available at the right time, this is the role for you.

Key Responsibilities

Hybrid Pipeline Architecture (Batch & Streaming)

• Design event-driven pipelines that ingest live patient interactions to power real-time inference to be able to calculate various propensity scores depending on the stage of patient journey
• Batch Processing: Maintain scalable batch processes for time-series analysis and other advanced statistical analysis as well as ML/LLM models that require heavy historical data aggregation and feature engineering
• Patient Clustering: Build pipelines that aggregate clinical and behavioral attributes to support unsupervised learning (clustering) for patient segmentation which then might be used for different business use cases from scheduling to marketing
• Scheduling Optimization: You will transform raw availability data into clean inputs for linear programming and constraint optimization solvers.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical specifications for ML solutions.

System Architecture & Observability

• Collaborate with Data Scientists and Operations Researchers to deploy forecasting and optimization models into production.
• Build Feature Stores that serve consistent features to both training and inference environments.
• Ensure the “reverse ETL” of model outputs—writing optimized schedules and recommended appointment slots back into operational systems for front-line staff to use.

Collaboration & Mentorship

• Create clear, comprehensive documentation and support guides for newly implemented tools.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers and data scientists.
• Stay current with advances in machine learning, data engineering, and software development, implementing industry best practices for reliability and maintainability.

Qualifications

Experience:

• 5+ years of Data Engineering experience with a focus on Python and complex SQL.
• Cloud Data Platform Mastery: Deep experience with AWS (Glue, Lambda, Kinesis), Azure (Data Factory, Synapse), or GCP (Dataflow, BigQuery).
• Workflow Orchestration: Advanced proficiency with tools like Apache Airflow, Prefect, or Dagster.
• Data Modeling: Experience designing dimensional models (Star Schema) and “One Big Table” structures for analytical performance.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• Experience with scheduling, optimization algorithms, or decision-support systems.
• Forecasting Knowledge: Familiarity with time-series data preparation (handling seasonality, lag features, moving averages).
• Familiarity with responsible AI practices and governance.

*This role is onsite 4 days/week in our Chicago office (Fulton Market District)

• A generous benefits package that includes paid time off, health, dental, vision, and 401(k) savings plan with match
• Salary: $129,000-152,000/year