Associate Data Engineering Manager - Databricks, Pyspark, Kafka, Azure

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. Primary Responsibilities

• Lead development of batch and real-time data pipelines using Python, PySpark, Databricks, and Kafka, implementing modern architectures like Medallion (Bronze/Silver/Gold)
• Optimise Spark jobs and Databricks environments while ensuring data reliability, governance, monitoring, and lineage across platforms
• Mentor engineers, conduct design/code reviews, and define best practices, reusable frameworks, and engineering standards
• Collaborate with stakeholders and AI/Data Science teams to deliver high-quality, analytics-ready data solutions and AI enablement
• Drive architecture decisions, CI/CD adoption, cloud integration (Azure), and platform modernisation including Snowflake and emerging AI capabilities
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (Undergraduate) in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field
• 6+ years of hands-on experience in data engineering, data processing, or a similar technical role
• Experience working with Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming and event-driven architectures
• Solid proficiency in Databricks and PySpark for building and optimizing large-scale data pipelines
• Solid understanding and practical experience with Microsoft Azure ecosystem (e.g., Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse, or related services)
• Solid SQL skills and experience with data modeling, ETL/ELT processes, and performance optimization
• Good understanding of distributed data processing concepts and big data architectures
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment with solid problem-solving and analytical skills
• Proven excellent communication and collaboration skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Snowflake data warehouse
• Exposure to cloud-based data migration and data pipeline modernization
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices in data engineering

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.