Principal Data Architect – Remote in Canada

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 talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Principal Data Architect will design and implement scalable data architectures that support the ingestion, storage, processing, and retrieval of medical imaging, clinical, and operational data. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, they will align data solutions with business and technology goals while ensuring adherence to governance policies, data standards, and best practices. Also, they will develop and maintain robust ETL/ELT pipelines for both structured and unstructured data, ensuring performance, security, compliance (e.g., HIPAA), and cost-efficiency. The position includes leading data modeling efforts across transactional, analytical, and operational systems. Further, they will evaluate and integrate emerging technologies to enhance platform capabilities and support advanced analytics. Additionally, they will engage with internal leadership and customers to guide data architecture strategy and collaborate with AI/ML teams to enable advanced modeling and decision support.

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely* from anywhere within Canada (expect for the Saskatchewan province) as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design and implement scalable data architectures that support the ingestion, storage, processing, and retrieval of medical imaging, clinical, and operational data
• Align data solutions with business and technology goals while ensuring adherence to governance policies, data standards, and best practices
• Develop and maintain robust ETL/ELT pipelines for both structured and unstructured data, ensuring performance, security, compliance (e.g., HIPAA), and cost-efficiency
• Lead data modeling efforts across transactional, analytical, and operational systems
• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies to enhance platform capabilities and support advanced analytics
• Engage with internal leadership and customers to guide data architecture strategy and collaborate with AI/ML teams to enable advanced modeling and decision support

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, Information Systems, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience
• 8+ years of experience in data architecture, data engineering, or related roles
• 5+ years of experience designing and implementing data solutions in cloud environments (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• Solid experience with relational and NoSQL databases (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Spanner, Couchbase, Oracle, MongoDB, Redis)
• Solid experience with Data warehousing or Data Lake design(e.g. Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, Snowflake)
• Experience with Business Intelligence Tools (e.g. Google Looker, Amazon QuickSight, Spotfire)
• Proficiency in data modeling, data warehousing, and data lake architecture
• Experience with data integration and ETL/ELT workflows and tools such as Spark, Flink, and Beam
• Experience with establishing or managing data governance frameworks and policies

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with medical imaging platforms or healthcare IT systems
• Familiarity with healthcare data standards (e.g., DICOM, HL7, FHIR) and regulatory requirements
• Proficiency in scripting and programming languages (e.g., Python, SQL, Scala)
• Experience supporting AI/ML workflows with large-scale data infrastructure
• Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD practices in data engineering contexts

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy.

Canada Residents Only: The salary range for Canada residents is $102,000 to $211,800 annually/per hour. Add the Additional reference to account for variable pay if Sales (84-92). Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc.

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.