Senior Software Engineer (data engineering)

Job Summary

UnitedHealth Group is seeking a Senior Software Engineer (Data Engineering) to join its Optum technology team in Washington, D.C., US. This role focuses on designing, building, and scaling data pipelines that power health‑care analytics and improve patient outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and maintain robust, high‑performance data pipelines using modern big‑data technologies (e.g., Spark, Kafka, Flink).
• Collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and clinical experts to translate business requirements into scalable data solutions.
• Implement data quality, monitoring, and alerting frameworks to ensure reliable delivery of critical health data.
• Optimize data storage and processing costs across cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) while adhering to security and compliance standards (HIPAA, GDPR).
• Mentor junior engineers, conduct code reviews, and promote best practices in software engineering and data engineering.
• Participate in agile ceremonies, sprint planning, and continuous delivery pipelines (CI/CD) to accelerate feature rollout.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in data engineering or backend software development.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Java, or Scala.
• Hands‑on experience with distributed data processing frameworks (Apache Spark, Hadoop, Beam).
• Strong SQL skills and experience with relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (Cassandra, DynamoDB) databases.
• Familiarity with cloud services (AWS S3, Redshift, Azure Data Lake, GCP BigQuery) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Understanding of data security, privacy regulations, and healthcare data standards.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in healthcare or life‑sciences data environments.
• Knowledge of machine‑learning pipelines and model deployment.
• Certifications in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) or data engineering.

Compensation & Benefits

Annual base salary: $116,643.52. UnitedHealth Group offers comprehensive health benefits, 401(k) matching, tuition reimbursement, and generous paid time off.

How to Apply

Submit your resume and a cover letter referencing Requisition number 2313138 through the UnitedHealth Group careers portal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What technologies will I use as a Senior Software Engineer at UnitedHealth Group?

You will work with big‑data tools such as Apache Spark, Kafka, cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP), and programming languages like Python, Java, or Scala.

Is healthcare experience required for this data engineering position?

While not mandatory, experience with healthcare data or knowledge of HIPAA compliance is preferred and will help you succeed.

What is the salary for this role?

The position offers a fixed annual base salary of $116,643.52, plus UnitedHealth Group’s full benefits package.