Senior Cloud Data Engineer - Remote

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 HCE Data Management team is responsible for the design, development, operation, and optimization of enterprise data platforms built on Snowflake and Azure Cloud Services.

As a Senior Cloud Data Engineer, you will play a key role in delivering scalable, high-performance data solutions that support analytics, AI, and business-critical workloads across the organization. This is a hands-on engineering role focused on building, optimizing, and operating cloud-native data pipelines and platforms.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

Design, develop, and implement scalable data solutions for complex business and technical challenges

Build and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines integrating data across multiple enterprise systems

Develop, test, deploy, and support high-quality data engineering solutions aligned to enterprise standards

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support architecture, planning, and delivery of data initiatives

Identify and drive improvements in system performance, data quality, and delivery methodologies

Act as a technical leader and subject matter expert (SME) across development, QA, and production environments

Mentor and guide junior engineers while promoting engineering best practices

Support platform reliability, incident resolution, and continuous improvement initiatives

Core Technical Responsibilities

Lead Snowflake migration and optimization efforts, including setup, data movement, and performance tuning

Stabilize and enhance enterprise data environments (e.g., OCDUL) in collaboration with upstream and downstream teams

Optimize Azure Databricks and Azure Data Factory pipelines for performance, scalability, and cost efficiency

Support Azure-hosted services powering analytics and NLP workloads

Troubleshoot complex cloud and data platform issues and implement durable, production-grade solutions

Identify and drive cloud cost optimization opportunities across Azure and Snowflake

Improve platform resiliency, observability, and operational maturity using cloud-native best practices

What You'll Work On

Enterprise-scale data platforms (Snowflake, Azure)

Data pipeline orchestration and transformation frameworks

Analytics, reporting, and AI/NLP data enablement

Data modeling, warehousing, and storage optimization

Platform performance tuning, reliability engineering, and cost optimization

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 (or equivalent experience)

5+ years of experience with modern relational databases and SQL optimization

5+ years of experience as a Data Engineer building production data solutions

3+ years of experience with Azure (Data Factory, Databricks, App Services, Functions)

3+ years of experience with Python development

3+ years of experience building enterprise data solutions in cloud environments (Azure/AWS/GCP)

3+ years of hands-on experience with Snowflake development

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience building cloud-native web services on Azure

Experience developing RESTful services (.NET, Java, or similar)

Experience working in Agile / SDLC environments

Solid understanding of data warehousing design (STAR / Snowflake schemas)

Familiarity with DevOps practices (CI/CD, GitHub, automation)

Exposure to AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) and advanced cloud architectures

What Sets You Apart

Solid problem-solving skills and ability to work on complex, ambiguous challenges

Hands-on mindset with a focus on execution and delivery

Passion for optimizing performance, scalability, and cost in cloud environments

Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively across technical and business teams

Why Join Us

Work on enterprise-scale cloud data platforms supporting critical healthcare analytics

Opportunity to influence modern data architecture and AI/NLP enablement

Collaborative environment with solid technical leadership and impact

Flexible work environment and career growth opportunities

All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $91,700 - $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.