Principal Data Engineer

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.    

The Principal Full Stack & Data Platform Engineer will provide technical leadership in designing, building, and modernizing enterprise-scale applications, data platforms, and AI-powered solutions. This role combines expertise in full stack engineering, cloud-native architecture, and data engineering to deliver scalable, secure, and high-performing platforms that support analytics, operational workloads, and digital experiences.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of enterprise-scale full stack applications, data platforms, and AI-driven solutions
• Design and implement modern cloud-native applications using React, Angular, TypeScript, Java, Spring Boot, Python, FastAPI, and related technologies
• Architect scalable data solutions leveraging Azure Data Lake, Databricks, Spark, SQL, event streaming, and modern data engineering patterns
• Design and govern APIs, microservices, event-driven architectures, and distributed systems supporting both transactional and analytical workloads
• Partner with data engineering and business teams to build data products, analytics platforms, and self-service reporting capabilities
• Drive cloud adoption and modernization initiatives across Azure, AWS, and GCP environments
• Lead the implementation of DevSecOps practices including CI/CD automation, Infrastructure as Code, containerization, Kubernetes, and observability
• Establish engineering standards, architectural best practices, and technology roadmaps across multiple programs
• Enable AI-assisted engineering and intelligent automation by integrating GenAI, machine learning, and modern software development practices into enterprise solutions
• Ensure application and data security through implementation of authentication, authorization, encryption, governance, and compliance standards
• Provide technical leadership for performance tuning, scalability optimization, cloud transformation, and platform modernization initiatives
• Collaborate with business stakeholders, architects, product owners, and engineering teams to define technical strategy and solutions
• Lead architecture reviews, design governance sessions, and technical decision-making processes
• Mentor engineers and foster a culture of innovation, engineering excellence, and continuous improvement
• Serve as a subject matter expert for application development, cloud engineering, and modern data platform technologies
• Review the work of others and provide technical guidance and coaching
• 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 or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Data Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering with significant experience in full stack application development and enterprise architecture
• Solid experience building cloud-native applications and scalable data platforms
• Solid front-end development experience with React, Angular, TypeScript, JavaScript, and modern UI frameworks
• Experience with modern data engineering technologies including Databricks, Apache Spark, SQL, data lakes, ETL/ELT pipelines, and data integration frameworks
• Experience designing and supporting analytical, reporting, AI/ML, and data product ecosystems
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code, and DevOps practices
• Experience with event streaming technologies such as Kafka, Event Hub, or equivalent platforms
• Proven experience leading enterprise transformation, modernization, or platform engineering initiatives
• Deep knowledge of Azure cloud services
• Solid understanding of security architecture, API governance, identity management, and compliance requirements
• Proven hands-on expertise with Java, Spring Boot, Python, REST APIs, microservices, and modern software architecture principles
• Proven solid stakeholder management, communication, and executive presentation skills
• Demonstrated success leading geographically distributed Agile engineering teams

Preferred Qualification:

• Experience with AWS and/or GCP

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.