Data Engineer - Healthcare

About the Company

The client is a nonprofit health insurance provider serving more than one million members across the Mountain West region. Its healthcare analytics team supports value-based care initiatives, quality improvement, risk adjustment, and medical expense management through data-driven insights.

About the Role

The team is seeking a Data Engineer to build and maintain the data models and pipelines that support healthcare analytics and value-based care initiatives. This fully remote contract role focuses on Azure Databricks, healthcare payer data, and scalable data engineering solutions that power executive-level Joint Operating Committee (JOC) dashboards and provider-facing performance reporting.

You will work closely with business intelligence developers, analytics leaders, and other stakeholders to deliver reliable, actionable data. The role requires strong technical expertise, an understanding of healthcare payer data, and the ability to communicate modeling decisions clearly in a fast-paced, iterative environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement data models and pipelines in Azure Databricks to support healthcare analytics and value-based care initiatives.
• Develop and maintain ETL/ELT processes that prioritize data quality, consistency, lineage, and performance for business intelligence and analytics.
• Build and optimize Delta Lake medallion architecture across bronze, silver, and gold layers to deliver scalable, high-performance data solutions.
• Collaborate daily with BI developers, analytics leaders, and stakeholders to support executive-level JOC dashboards and provider-facing performance views.
• Integrate and analyze healthcare payer data, including claims, encounter data, medical expenses, medical loss ratio (MLR), cost of care, Stars and HEDIS quality metrics, and Medicare Advantage HCC and HHS-HCC risk adjustment data.
• Design analytical models and reporting hierarchies that support executive-level and provider-level reporting, including drill-down capabilities.
• Orchestrate data workflows using Databricks Workflows and/or Azure Data Factory.
• Use advanced SQL, Spark SQL, and PySpark to complete complex data engineering tasks.
• Explain technical concepts and data modeling decisions clearly to non-technical analytics leaders and stakeholders.
• Adapt to changing requirements, participate in daily standups, and engage directly with clients in an iterative delivery environment.

Required Qualifications

• At least seven years of experience as a Data Engineer or in a similar role working with large, complex datasets.
• At least three years of hands-on Azure Databricks experience, including production-level PySpark and Spark SQL development beyond notebook-only or SQL-only usage.
• Strong expertise in Delta Lake and medallion architecture, including bronze, silver, and gold layers.
• Advanced SQL and dimensional data modeling skills, including the ability to design gold or serving layers for direct BI consumption.
• Experience orchestrating data workflows with Databricks Workflows and/or Azure Data Factory.
• Demonstrated experience working with healthcare payer data, including claims, encounter data, medical expenses, MLR, cost of care, Stars and HEDIS quality metrics, and Medicare Advantage HCC and HHS-HCC risk adjustment.
• Experience designing analytical models and hierarchies for executive and provider-level reporting and drill-down.
• Strong ETL/ELT pipeline development skills, with a focus on data quality, consistency, lineage, and performance.
• Ability to work with changing requirements, participate in daily standups, and interact directly with clients.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain technical and modeling decisions to non-technical stakeholders.
• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data or Analytics, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Databricks Data Engineer Associate or Professional certification and Microsoft Azure data or analytics certifications.
• Experience with Unity Catalog, dbt, and Git-based CI/CD for data.
• Experience working with Epic-sourced data, including Caboodle or Clarity, or other clinical data platforms.
• Previous experience in value-based care or population health analytics.
• Familiarity with Power BI and/or Tableau for data modeling and performance optimization.
• Experience building shared-model datasets for internal payer teams and external provider organizations.
• Exposure to JOC or executive-level healthcare performance reporting.
• Experience with enterprise measure engines such as Inovalon, Cotiviti, Optum, Edifecs, or Milliman MedInsight, or experience developing custom measure logic.

Contract Details & Compensation

• Work arrangement: Fully remote
• Contract length: Up to 12 months
• Compensation: $65–$85 per hour
• Working hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST)
• Start date: ASAP; the original posting lists October 5, 2026.