Data Engineer Remote Contract Jobs in Arkansas (NOW HIRING)

Optum Insight is improving the flow of health data and information to create a more connected system. We remove friction and drive alignment between care providers and payers, and ultimately consumers. Our deep expertise in the industry and innovative technology empower us to help organizations reduce costs while improving risk management, quality and revenue growth. Ready to help us deliver results that improve lives? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As a Senior Data Engineer on the Optum Data Management team, this role is responsible for designing, building, and operating scalable, metadata driven data pipelines supporting the Arkansas Medicaid Decision Support System (DSS).

The position focuses on developing and optimizing ETL/ELT workflows using Azure Data Factory, Snowflake SQL, and supporting technologies to enable reliable ingestion, integration, and delivery of State Medicaid and CMS data.

The Senior Data Engineer leads efforts to resolve data quality and performance issues, supports automated inbound and outbound data extracts for intrastate agencies, and collaborates directly with state partners to implement new file based and system integrations based on detailed technical specifications.

This role requires solid SQL proficiency, deep understanding of enterprise data warehousing patterns, and the ability to operate independently while contributing to complex, regulated data environments.

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:

• Collaborate closely with product owners, business users, and stakeholders to translate data product and reporting requirements into scalable, reliable data engineering solutions, incorporating feedback iteratively throughout the delivery lifecycle
• Design, develop, and maintain end to end data pipelines across staging, integration, and consumption layers, leveraging Azure Data Factory, Snowflake SQL, and metadata driven frameworks
• Develop and optimize high performance SQL queries, views, and stored procedures to support analytics, reporting, and outbound data extracts, and provide guidance to analytics team members on effective and cost efficient usage
• Architect, Develop and support inbound and outbound data integration processes including batch file ingestion, automated extracts, and scheduled deliveries to internal consumers, state partners, and external agencies
• Develop and Maintain Go-Anywhere workflows and monitors for Inbound and outbound file transfers
• Partner with internal stakeholders to understand business objectives, regulatory needs, and study requirements, and identify appropriate technical solutions, integration patterns, and data models that balance performance, scalability, and maintainability
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert and mentor, providing training, design guidance, and code reviews for associates on data engineering best practices, Snowflake optimization, and ADF pipeline design
• Author and maintain detailed technical documentation, including data mappings, record layouts, file specifications, interface contracts, workflow diagrams, and operational runbooks for data loads and extracts
• Continuously evaluate and improve data quality, reconciliation controls, monitoring, and operational efficiencies across analytic and DSS data processes
• Establish and maintain solid partnerships with customers, data senders, and data consumers, acting as a subject matter expert for healthcare data domains
• Collaborate with business and technical partners to support data acquisition initiatives, including onboarding new data sources, developing business justifications, and executing secure, compliant data transfers
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly through written documentation, presentations, and discussions with audiences ranging from technical teams to senior leadership
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive environment that promotes knowledge sharing, continuous improvement, and professional development across the team
• Demonstrate full appreciation of and compliance with regulatory, security, and data governance obligations, including HIPAA, state/federal Medicaid requirements, and controls related to external data sharing and file exchanges
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and adapt to evolving business and technology requirements
• Demonstrated analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to diagnose pipeline failures, data anomalies, and performance bottlenecks

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:

• 3 years of hands on data engineering experience, with a solid emphasis on enterprise data warehousing and ETL architectures
• 3 years of ETL development experience designing and building pipelines, dataflows using Azure Data Factory and/or Snowflake, including parameterized and metadata driven designs
• 3 years of experience using Snowflake database including creating data ingestion and extraction through stored procedures and leveraging Snowflake native utilities
• 3 of Experience processing both structured and semi structured data (e.g., fixed width files, delimited files, JSON, XML)
• 2 years of experience with GitHub version control systems including code merges and cross environment deployments using CD/CI pipelines
• 2 years of scripting experience (Batch, PowerShell, or similar) to support automation and operational tasks specifically on Azure platform
• Experience working with NCPDP vF6, HL7 and FHIR healthcare standards including ingestion and transformation of these formats

Preferred Qualifications:

• Snowflake or Azure certifications related to Data Engineering (e.g., SnowPro Core, SnowPro Advanced: Data engineer, Azure Data Engineer Associate)
• 3 years of data modeling experience in an enterprise data warehouse environment (dimensional, normalized, or hybrid models)
• 2 years of experience developing and maintaining Go-Anywhere MFT tool for inbound and outbound transfer processes solidly preferred
• 2 Years of experience with Symmetry suite for episode grouping, risk scores, cost/utilization metrics etc, prepare symmetry input files making changes needed for new versions in the event of tool upgrades, parsed and transformed tool outputs into analytic-ready datasets
• 2 years of Python experience, particularly for data processing, orchestration, or validation workflows
• 2 Years working with Microsoft Purview/ Macula Automate building lineage from ADF and Snowflake code/objects
• Experience designing or consuming APIs and service based integrations (REST, RPC) within Snowflake or ADF based workflows
• Experience with Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS), particularly Data Integration
• Experience supporting State Medicaid, Medicare, or healthcare data systems, including regulatory or compliance driven reporting

*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 an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

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