Director Data Engineering - Remote

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care's most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

This Director of Data Engineering role will lead delivery of cloud-based data engineering solutions supporting UHC HEDIS Retrospective data processing across lines of business. The leader will oversee data engineering teams and SMEs, drive AI/GenAI adoption into technical workflows, partner closely with business and product stakeholders, and ensure scalable, compliant solutions aligned to Quality measures, NCQA requirements, and business outcomes.

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: 

• Operations & Maintenance delivery lead for all UHC LOB HEDIS Retrospective data processing responsible for delivering Cloud based data engineering solutions along with driving AI implementations
• Lead a large team of data engineers and SMEs with different skill levels in functional and technical roles
• Manage communications with business stakeholders and auditors on functional logic and issue tracking
• Collaborate effectively with product, cross-functional enhancement, and source teams to identify, manage, and resolve dependencies that ensure seamless delivery.
• Drive timely resolution by escalating as needed and convening the right stakeholders
• Engage in high-stakes conversations, navigating difficult discussions with professionalism and clarity
• Demonstrate solid leadership presence to guide discussions, challenge assumptions, and drive accountability
• Ask insightful, forward-looking questions to uncover functional and technical risks, gaps, and opportunities 
• Remove barriers to execution by facilitating decisions and navigating organizational complexity
• Stay up to date on Quality measures, NCQA changes and impact to the technical solutions and business outcomes
• Evaluate emerging trends to inform solution design and strategic innovation  

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: 

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of experience in the health insurance industry with core expertise in HEDIS, serving as a subject matter expert
• 8+ years of experience using Onprem/Cloud based SQL databases in a research, consulting, or business environment
• 5+ years of experience and understanding of HEDIS concepts and understanding of the engines in the market, expertise in HEDIS measures and HEDIS data domains (Member, Eligibility, Medical, Rx, Clinical data), including Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial LOB nuances
• 5+ years of experience managing personnel, including leading, coaching, and mentoring data SMEs
• 5+ years of Agile/Kanban based delivery experience, engineering best practices including unit testing, test-driven development (TDD), continuous Integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD), pair programming, automated testing, and code reviews
• Proven excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to clearly communicate analyses and findings to clients
• Experience communicating technical and methodological nuances to a non-technical audience
• Demonstrated ability to translate analytical results into meaningful insights that inform decision-making
• Proven problem-solving and critical thinking skills
• Proven ability to interact collaboratively with internal business partners across multiple departments and business segments
• Proven self-starter who can operate well in a changing and sometimes ambiguous environment