Data Engineer, Principal

Company Overview

Acentra Health exists to empower better health outcomes through technology, services, and clinical expertise. Our mission is to innovate health solutions that deliver maximum value and impact.

Lead the Way is our rallying cry at Acentra Health. Think of it as an open invitation to embrace the mission of the company; to actively engage in problem-solving; and to take ownership of your work every day. Acentra Health offers you unparalleled opportunities. In fact, you have all you need to take charge of your career and accelerate better outcomes – making this a great time to join our team of passionate individuals dedicated to being a vital partner for health solutions in the public sector.

Job Summary and Responsibilities

Acentra Health is looking for a Principal Data Engineer to join our growing team.

Job Summary:

Are a senior-most individual contributor and technical authority who defines the organization’s data strategy, establishes enterprise data engineering standards, ensures alignment with business goals, and enables the implementation of scalable, governed data solutions across all technology functions and delivery teams.

Responsibilities:

• Read, understand, and adhere to all corporate policies including policies related to HIPAA and its Privacy and Security Rules.

Strategic Data Solution Design (25-30%)

• Define and evolve enterprise data architectures for scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
• Translate enterprise technology strategy into data engineering patterns and reference architectures.
• Provide architectural guidance across multiple technology functions.

Engineering Standards & Modern Practices (20–25%)

• Define, document, and evolve enterprise-wide data engineering standards covering ETL/ELT, data modeling, orchestration, security, performance, reliability, and cost optimization.
• Establish reference architectures, reusable patterns, and guardrails that enable consistent implementation across diverse technology teams.
• Champion CI/CD for data pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, automated testing, and observability.
• Promote DevSecOps principles within data engineering to improve deployment reliability, security posture, and operational resilience.

Data Governance Leadership (20%)

• Partner with application engineering, infrastructure, security, analytics, and platform teams to ensure data solutions align with enterprise architecture, reliability, and compliance standards.
• Establish and enforce enterprise data governance frameworks.
• Lead data quality, lineage, metadata management, and auditability initiatives. • Ensure compliance with privacy, security, and regulatory requirements.

Technical Leadership, Influence & Enablement (15%)

• Influence consistent adoption of standards across distributed and federated delivery teams.
• Serve as the principal technical authority for data engineering, influencing architectural decisions across multiple technology functions without direct people management responsibility.
• Mentor Senior and Specialist Data Engineers, providing technical guidance, design reviews, and escalation support for complex initiatives.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior technology leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.

Operational Excellence and Compliance (10%)

• Define KPIs and drive high availability, reliability, and resilience improvements.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulations across all data solutions.
• Drive innovation by evaluating and guiding enterprise adoption of emerging technologies, including AI-assisted data engineering, advanced automation, and cloud-native services, ensuring innovation is applied pragmatically and aligned with scalability, security, and compliance requirements.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications, Knowledge, and Experience

• Bachelor’s (master's preferred) in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years of experience in data engineering or software development, with 5+ years in a leadership role.
• Proven ability to design and implement enterprise-scale governed data solutions.
• Expertise in architecture reviews, audits, and enterprise initiatives.
• Experience with enterprise data modeling tools (e.g., Erwin, dbt, SQL Data Modeler).
• Advanced knowledge of cloud-native and distributed data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, and Apache Kafka).
• Expertise in data governance tools and methodologies, such as Collibra, Apache Atlas, or Informatica.
• Proficiency in real-time data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark Streaming, Flink).
• Strong understanding of data security and compliance standards, including encryption and role-based access controls.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven ability to define and execute a long-term data strategy that aligns with organizational goals.
• Deep understanding of designing and implementing large-scale, distributed systems for data processing and analytics.
• Ability to define key performance indicators (KPIs) for data systems and measure their impact on business objectives.
• Expertise in technologies like Kafka, Pulsar, or AWS EventBridge to enable real-time, event-driven systems.
• Ability to design systems that deliver real-time data insights and enable predictive analytics.
• Certifications in cloud, database, programming, and AI/ML.

Why us?

We are a team of experienced and caring leaders, clinicians, pioneering technologists, and industry professionals who come together to redefine expectations for the healthcare industry. State and federal healthcare agencies, providers, and employers turn to us as their vital partner to ensure better healthcare and improve health outcomes.

We do this through our people.

You will have meaningful work that genuinely improves people's lives across the country. We are a company that cares about our employees, and we give you the tools and encouragement you need to achieve the finest work of your career.

Benefits

Benefits are a key component of your rewards package. Our benefits are designed to provide you with additional protection, security, and support for both your career and your life away from work. Our benefits include comprehensive health plans, paid time off, retirement savings, corporate wellness, educational assistance, corporate discounts, and more.

Thank You!

We know your time is valuable and we thank you for applying for this position. Due to the high volume of applicants, only those who are chosen to advance in our interview process will be contacted. We sincerely appreciate your interest in Acentra Health and invite you to apply to future openings that may be of interest. Best of luck in your search!

~ The Acentra Health Talent Acquisition Team

Visit us at https://careers.acentra.com/jobs

EEO AA M/F/Vet/Disability

Acentra Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable Federal, State or Local law.

Experience in Lieu of Degree

For non-clinical roles, or when not required by the contract specifically, the Company acknowledges that practical, hands-on experience can provide skills and competencies equivalent to formal education. As such, in cases where a Bachelor's degree may be required, the Company will accept a minimum of six (6) years of directly relevant professional experience in lieu of a degree. In instances where the candidate has an Associate's degree, the Company will accept a minimum of three (3) years of directly relevant professional experience in lieu of the Bachelor's degree.

Compensation

The pay for this position is listed below.

"Based on our compensation philosophy, an applicant’s position placement in the pay range will depend on various considerations, such as years of applicable experience and skill level."

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Pay Range

USD $142,720.00 - USD $178,400.00 /Yr.