Senior Data Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 5, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 4, 2026. UnitedHealth Group scores B on the Alion truth index.
Our Company
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, and data 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.
Position Summary
The Optum Rx team is seeking a Sr Data Engineer to manage, optimize, and modernize critical enterprise database environments. In this role, you will play a critical role in the administration, operational ownership, and architectural evolution of enterprise Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL, MongoDB, and MongoDB Atlas platforms supporting mission-critical health care applications. You will leverage on-prem and cloud-native database services, continuous automation, and AI-driven database engineering solutions to enhance database performance, reliability, security, and operational efficiency.
You'll enjoy the flexibility to telecommute* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Administer, maintain, and optimize enterprise SQL Server, Azure SQL, MongoDB environments supporting critical business applications
- Ensure high availability, disaster recovery readiness, and optimal database performance
- Troubleshoot and resolve database, infrastructure, and application-related issues using native SQL Server, Windows tools, Azure SQL, MongoDB, MongoDB Atlas
- Provide expert support in administration and operational ownership of enterprise-scale MSSQL and MongoDB environments, ensuring high availability, security, scalability, and performance across mission-critical production workloads
- Perform installation and upgrades, performance tuning, high availability and disaster recovery (Always-On Availability Groups, Replication etc.), monitoring, patching, TDE/TLS encryption, backup and recovery, security, automation (T-SQL/PowerShell), capacity planning, and troubleshoot mission-critical enterprise database environments
- Demonstrate expertise in SQL Server performance tuning, including Query Store, Execution Plans, Extended Events, SQL Profiler, Missing Index Analysis, Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), Wait Statistics, Windows and SQL Server Error Logs, and Performance Monitor
- Participate in administering Azure SQL database and Managed Instance, including end-to-end migration planning and execution
- Design, deploy, and manage MongoDB Atlas Projects, Clusters, Private Endpoints, Backup policies, and Disaster Recovery configurations in cloud environments
- Serve as key expert for MongoDB Atlas architecture, including replica sets, sharding, multi-region deployments, Atlas Search, and cloud-native database services
- Participate in architecture and design reviews, providing expert guidance on database solutions and performance optimization
- Lead database-related projects and drive continuous improvement through automation and adoption of emerging technologies, including AI-driven solutions
- Drive the adoption of AI-assisted database engineering solutions to improve operational efficiency, automate routine administrative tasks, accelerate root cause analysis, and optimize database performance and reliability
- Provide on-call support on a rotational basis and be available during scheduled support windows
You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear directions 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 in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field
- 7+ years of Microsoft SQL Server database administration experience in handling versions between Microsoft SQL Server 2012-2025 and Azure SQL database or Managed Instance in production environments
- 2+ years of MongoDB or MongoDB Atlas administration experience in enterprise production environments
- 2+ years of experience in programming using T-SQL and PowerShell for data transformation and infrastructure automation
- Ability to participate in a rotational on-call support schedule 4-7 weeks as rotation
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP) and cloud data services
- Experience with cloud-native monitoring and alerting tools (e.g., Grafana, Azure Monitor, Datadog)
- Experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipeline integration, and Infrastructure as Code, such as Terraform or Ansible
- Professional certifications in database administration or cloud architecture, such as MongoDB Certified DBA or Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate
- Hands-on experience with multi-region cloud deployments, Private Endpoints, Atlas Search, and cloud-native database services in Microsoft Azure
- Demonstrated experience utilizing AI-assisted software and database engineering tools to optimize queries, script workflows, and improve operational productivity
*All Telecommuters 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 to $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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.
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