Data Engineer

About the Company
Avalere is a strategic advisory company whose core purpose is to create innovative solutions to complex healthcare problems. Based in Washington, DC, the firm delivers actionable insights, product solutions, and custom analytics for leaders in healthcare business and policy. Avalere’s experts span 230 staff drawn from Fortune 500 healthcare companies, the federal government (e.g., CMS, OMB, CBO and the Congress), top consultancies and nonprofits. The firm offers deep substance on the full range of healthcare business issues affecting the Fortune 500 healthcare companies. Avalere’s focus on strategy is supported by a rigorous, in-house analytic research group that uses public and private data to generate quantitative insight. Through events, publications and interactive programs, Avalere insights are accessible to a broad range of customers.

Avalere is part of a parent company Avalere Health, a purposefully built commercialization partner for the biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and wellness industries. Its 1,500+ experts combine their knowledge and expertise across our core disciplines—Consulting; Medical; Policy, Access, Value, and Evidence; Marketing; and Digital Experience and Technology—to create the connections that make better health happen. Visit www.avalerehealth.com and follow Avalere Health on LinkedIn and Instagram.

About the Role

Avalere Health is seeking a skilled Data Engineer to join our innovative and collaborative team. The hire will be responsible for (i) maintaining and optimizing the data environment and ingestion of healthcare and large-scale claims data, (ii) socializing existing policy/procedures for ingesting client data, and (iii) providing day-to-day, data engineering project support for cross-functional teams. The data engineer will support research scientists, consultants, and analysts, in addition to communicating with project leads and project managers on related project work and data initiatives. This is a technical position requiring advanced expertise in Snowflake, SQL, and Python. The ideal candidate will possess a Snowflake Pro certification and have extensive experience in complex SQL coding and scalable data solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain scalable data ingestion processes to extract valuable insights and intelligence from large and complex medical datasets
• Design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines and platforms
• Lead and contribute hands-on to major data engineering initiatives from inception to delivery
• Develop and optimize complex SQL queries and data models for high-performance analytics
• Evaluate and recommend appropriate data storage solutions, ensuring data accessibility and integrity within Snowflake
• Proactively identify and capitalize on opportunities for efficiency, sustainability, innovation, and standardization through efforts such as data consolidation and automation
• Develop and continuously optimize data ingestion processes for improved reliability and performance
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver data-driven insights using technical expertise
• Develop and implement Python-based analytics solutions within the Snowflake environment
• Create and maintain custom packages and handle advanced package management in Snowflake
• Provide direct and responsive support for urgent analytic needs
• Translate loosely defined requirements into solutions

Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, or Related Field plus at least 5 years of experience in data engineering with a strong focus on data architecture and ingestion
OR
Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, or Related Field plus at least 3 years of experience in data engineering with a strong focus on data architecture and ingestion

• Strong problem-solving, troubleshooting, and analytical skills with a focus on technical solutions
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Self-motivated and able to work independently on technical projects in a remote environment
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying up to date with latest data technologies, trends, and best practices

Required Qualifications:

• Snowflake Pro certification or equivalent years of experience supporting Snowflake in an enterprise setting
• Proven experience with complex SQL coding and query optimization
• Strong proficiency in Python development, specifically within the Snowflake environment
• Demonstrated experience with custom package handling and development in Snowflake
• Advanced knowledge of scalable data ingestion techniques
• Technical ability to read, understand, and translate SAS code into SQL

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven experience in data integration and programming languages (Python, SQL) for data preparation and analysis
• Experience with Data Ops (VPCs, cluster management, permissions) in Cloud Computing environments (e.g., AWS, Azure) and associated cloud data platforms, cloud data warehouse technologies (Snowflake/Redshift), and Advanced Analytical platforms (e.g., Dataiku and Databricks)
• Technical knowledge of healthcare claims and/or EMR data structures and processing
• Understanding of HIPAA regulations, compliance, and data security principles in technical implementations
• Hands-on experience with Cortex AI and Streamlit for data applications
• Experience in life science, healthcare analytics or related field
• Designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable and optimized data architectures that meet evolving business needs
• Development of cloud solutions that adhere to security and compliance best practices