Principal Data Engineer – Python, Cloud, ADF and Databricks

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 diversity and inclusion, 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

Principal Data Engineer is responsible for management of the full technical lifecycle of program for given modules, with a technical focus, including the strategy, design, development, and end-of-life of new, existing or acquired applications.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of robust data pipelines and infrastructure for cloud cost management
• Architect and implement scalable data models and dbt workflows to support advanced analytics and reporting
• Conduct complex data analysis using SQL, Python (in Jupyter notebooks), and other tools to identify cost optimization opportunities, trends, and anomalies
• Develop and automate advanced reporting and dashboards using tools like PowerBI, incorporating predictive analytics and machine learning insights
• Lead the development and implementation of AI and bot strategies to automate data analysis tasks and enhance team efficiency
• Mentor and guide junior team members in data engineering best practices, cloud technologies, and analytical techniques
• Collaborate with data scientists and engineers to build and deploy machine learning models for forecasting, anomaly detection, and other FinOps use cases
• Champion data governance and ensure data quality across the cloud cost management platform
• Drive continuous improvement within the team, identifying opportunities to enhance processes and tools
• Partner with stakeholders across the organization to understand their data needs and deliver actionable insights
• 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 regards 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 degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in data engineering or data analysis, with a focus on cloud cost management
• Deep expertise in SQL and Excel
• Proven experience building data pipelines
• Solid experience with reporting and dashboarding tools like PowerBI
• Proven excellent leadership, mentorship, communication, and problem-solving skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Extensive experience with major cloud service providers (GCP, AWS, Azure) and cloud cost management tools
• Hands-on expertise with a high-level programming language (e.g., Python)
• Extensive experience working with Jupyter Notebooks or similar tools
• Experience leading the development and implementation of AI and bot strategies for data analysis automation
• Solid experience with data modeling, dbt, and data warehousing concepts
• Experience architecting and building robust data pipelines using Azure Data Factory and Databricks (or similar tools on other cloud plat

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.