Senior Data Engineering Consultant - MS SQL

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.
The Senior Data Engineering Consultant (MSSQL) is responsible for architecting, managing, optimizing, and securing Microsoft SQL Server environments across on premises and cloud platforms. This role leads complex database and cloud migration initiatives, oversees technical escalations, ensures regulatory and security compliance, and provides advanced engineering leadership. The position requires deep technical expertise across MSSQL, cloud ecosystems, Python automation, Terraform IaC, AI driven optimization, and enterprise-grade operational excellence including PLM, on-call readiness, and handling security vulnerabilities.
Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the end to end design, implementation, optimization, and modernization of MSSQL databases across on premises, hybrid, and multi cloud environments (Azure/AWS/GCP), ensuring high performance, scalability, and reliability
• Architect and execute large-scale migration initiatives including cloud DB migrations, cross platform migrations, legacy modernization, and consolidation of complex database ecosystems
• Implement, manage, and optimize HA/DR architectures such as Always On Availability Groups, clustering, log shipping, replication, and geo-distributed failover strategies
• Drive advanced performance engineering, query tuning, indexing strategies, memory/IO optimization, and proactive capacity planning to support mission-critical workloads
• Provide technical leadership by mentoring and upskilling DBA and Data Engineering teams, guiding best practices, and delivering performance evaluations that support continuous professional growth
• Lead high-severity incident management, coordinate technical war rooms, resolve escalations related to performance degradation, outages, security breaches, cloud deployment failures, and data integrity issues
• Own and execute remediation of security vulnerabilities, including patch management, security hardening, auditing, encryption enforcement, access reviews, and continuous compliance tracking
• Conduct periodic security assessments, threat analysis, and vulnerability scans, ensuring adherence to regulatory and organizational data protection standards
• Develop and maintain automation frameworks using Python, PowerShell, and T SQL to streamline operations, reduce manual effort, and improve reliability
• Design and implement Terraform-based Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for consistent, scalable deployment of SQL infrastructure in cloud environments
• Integrate AI/ML-driven capabilities for proactive anomaly detection, predictive performance insights, and automated optimization recommendations
• Collaborate with SRE, DevOps, Cloud, and Application teams to enable CI/CD for database objects, schema deployments, and data pipelines
• Drive PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) activities including platform upgrades, patch cycles, deprecation, modernization, and lifecycle governance
• Participate in and prepare for 24/7 on-call rotation, ensuring rapid response to production issues and minimizing downtime
• Maintain comprehensive documentation including architectures, SOPs, runbooks, playbooks, migration plans, and knowledge base articles
• Partner with engineering and application teams to support deployments, troubleshoot performance issues, and design scalable, resilient database solutions aligned with business needs
• 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

Job Duties:

• Deliver a customer-first approach and demonstrate high ownership during real-time incident handling
• Support cross-functional data integration, cloud adoption, and migration projects end-to-end
• Execute routine maintenance - backups, integrity checks, index optimization, stats updates
• Manage least-privilege database security, RBAC, access reviews, and privileged operations
• Implement database synchronization and replication strategies for distributed/global architecture
• Monitor and optimize resource utilization, cost efficiency, and scalability across cloud platforms

Professional Development

• Stay up to date with the latest trends and advancements in MSSQL technologies and best practices
• Attend relevant conferences, workshops, and training sessions to enhance technical knowledge and leadership skills
• Pursue certifications related to Microsoft SQL Server and database management
• Continuously track and adopt the latest advancements in MSSQL, cloud databases, automation, AI/ML capabilities, and cybersecurity
• Participate in technical conferences, cloud workshops, and certification programs
• Pursue advanced certifications in SQL Server, Azure/AWS cloud, Terraform, and AI technologies

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of hands-on experience as an MSSQL DBA/Data Engineer managing enterprise-scale systems
• Experience documenting and standardizing procedures, playbooks, and operational frameworks
• Proven experience delivering cloud migrations, modernizations, and complex database transformations
• Solid leadership experience in managing DBA teams and handling high-severity escalations
• Expertise in troubleshooting advanced database issues and optimizing high-performance workloads

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
• Microsoft SQL Server certifications (e.g., MCSA, MCSE, MCITP)
• Experience with other database management systems like MySQL, Oracle, or PostgreSQL
• Familiarity with cloud database services (e.g., Azure SQL Database, AWS RDS)
• Demonstrated commitment to continual learning
• Technical Skills:
  • Microsoft SQL certifications (MCSA, MCSE, MCITP)
  • Certifications in Azure / AWS Cloud, Terraform, Python, or AI Engineering
  • Hands-on experience with cloud-native databases (Azure SQL, AWS RDS/Aurora, GCP Cloud SQL)
  • Experience with MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, or NoSQL systems
  • Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and technology adoption
• Knowledge & Skills:
  • Proven solid leadership and team management abilities
  • Proven excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting skills
  • Proven effective communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate with cross-functional teams
  • Proven detail-oriented and able to work with a high level of accuracy
  • Proven ability to handle multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a dynamic environment
  • Proven solid analytical and decision-making skills

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.
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