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.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Tech Stack:Azure, Databricks, Power BI, and PostgreSQL
- Responsibilities Across the Data Lifecycle
- Discovery & Ingestion
- Source assessment, contracts, SLAs; landing design (batch/stream)
- Build resilient ingestion with lineage and schema change alerts
- Storage & Modeling
- Define bronze/silver/gold zones; dimensional models for BI; CDC into Delta/Synapse
- Govern via Unity Catalog/Purview; metadata completeness ≥95%
- Transformation & Quality
- Implement SDE/SLAs for transformations; automated data quality checks (completeness, accuracy, timeliness)
- Versioned pipelines, testing (unit/integration), rollback plans, blue/green deployments
- Serving & Visualization
- Curated datasets with documented measures; self-service enablement via Power BI; certified datasets
- Performance SLAs (e.g., P95 <3s report load; streaming lag <60s)
- Operations & Security
- Observability (alerts, SLOs, error budgets), incident management, change management
- Least privilege access, key rotation, secret scanning, compliance (e.g., GDPR-like PII controls)
- Cost & Efficiency
- Monitors spend per pipeline/workspace; enforce cluster policies; storage lifecycle tiering
- Right-size jobs and warehouse pools; commit/reserved capacity were ROI-positive
- Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regard to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field
- 7+ Years of experience in the Data Engineering Space with the below Skills and Responsibilities
- Ability to design and operate Azure + Databricks Lakehouse with bronze/silver/gold architecture, governed by Unity Catalog and Purview
- Ability to build batch and streaming pipelines (ADF, Structured Streaming), with automated data quality checks, CI/CD, and observability
- Ability to model curated datasets and semantic layers in Power BI; implement RLS/OLS and deployment pipelines for enterprise-scale reporting
- Ability to manage PostgreSQL schemas, performance, and replication strategies; implement CDC to Lakehouse/Synapse
- Ability to enforce security baselines (Managed Identity, Private Endpoints, Key Vault) and compliance for sensitive data
- Ability to drive cost optimization via cluster policies, autoscaling, storage tiering, and reserved capacity planning.
- Ability to collaborate with product owners and data stewards to standardize metric definitions and certify datasets
Recommended Certifications & Learning Paths:
- Microsoft Azure:
- DP-203 (Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure)
- AZ-305 (Architecting) for cross-cloud design
- Databricks:
- Data Engineer Associate/Professional
- Lakehouse Fundamentals
- Power BI:
- PL-300 (Power BI Data Analyst)
- PostgreSQL:
- EDB or Crunchy Data PostgreSQL certifications (optional but valuable)
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field
- 7+ years of experience in the Data Engineering space
- Design and operate Azure + Databricks Lakehouse with bronze/silver/gold architecture, governed by Unity Catalog and Purview
- Build batch and streaming pipelines (ADF, Structured Streaming) with automated data quality checks, CI/CD, and observability
- Model curated datasets and semantic layers in Power BI; implement RLS/OLS and deployment pipelines for enterprise reporting
- Manage PostgreSQL schemas, performance, replication strategies; implement CDC to Lakehouse/Synapse
- Enforce security baselines (Managed Identity, Private Endpoints, Key Vault) and compliance controls for sensitive data
- Drive cost optimization via cluster policies, autoscaling, storage tiering, and reserved capacity planning
- Collaborate with product owners and data stewards to standardize metric definitions and certify datasets
- Recommended certifications: Microsoft DP-203, AZ-305; Databricks Data Engineer Associate/Professional; Power BI PL-300; PostgreSQL certifications (EDB/Crunchy)
Optum Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage offers copay and HSA medical options with dental, vision, company‑paid life and disability, and free or low‑cost virtual visits. Feedback suggests the offering is comprehensive and competitive on paper.
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Parental & Family Support — Time off and family supports include PTO, eight paid holidays plus a floating day, six weeks paid parental leave, up to two weeks paid caregiver leave, Bright Horizons back‑up care, and adoption assistance up to $10,000. Feedback suggests these resources are meaningful for caregivers and family needs.
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Retirement Support — Savings programs include a 401(k) with employer match (after one year, vesting after two) and a 10%‑discount Employee Stock Purchase Plan. These programs bolster long‑term financial security when combined with other savings resources.
Optum Insights
What We Do
Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, 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. At Optum, we support your well-being with an understanding team, extensive benefits and rewarding opportunities. By joining us, you’ll have the resources to drive system transformation while we help you take care of your future. We recognize the power of connection to drive change, improve efficiency and make a difference in health care. Join a team where your skills and ideas can make an impact and where collaboration is key to creating technology that produces healthier outcomes.
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Optum Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Optum has three workplace models that balance the needs of the business and the responsibilities of each role. These models, core on‑site (5 days/week), hybrid (4 days/week) and telecommute or fully remote, vary by country, role and location.