Senior Data Engineer

This position is the primary builder and steward of THA’s data infrastructure. The role is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the ETL pipelines, database systems, and data integrations that power THA’s member-facing programs and internal operations. The Data Engineer ensures the reliable delivery of healthcare data products, including the Health Information Network’s quarterly hospital discharge data program and hospital quality reporting, and maintains the SQL Server environment that supports them. This role requires a builder’s mindset: someone equally at home designing a new pipeline from scratch, troubleshooting a failing one, and owning the server environment underneath both.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE JOB: (Listed in order of importance.)

1. The ability to adapt to a changing work environment and meet challenges presented throughout the day.

2. ETL Development and Pipeline Maintenance: Design, develop, and maintain ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes and data pipelines. Build new integrations as THA programs require them and ensure existing manual and automated workflows run reliably across THA’s data programs (DataBank, IRF, HIP, etc). This is the primary and most time-intensive function of the role.

3. Health Information Network (HIN) Data Processing: Serve as the primary technical resource for quarterly processing of hospital UB-04 discharge data. THA member hospitals and multiple program areas (advocacy, patient safety, quality) depend on this data for strategic planning and compliance reporting. Coordinate with the Tennessee Department of Health on all related activities.

4. SQL Development and Database Engineering: Develop and optimize complex T-SQL queries, stored procedures, views, functions, and triggers. Design and model new databases. Create and manage SQL Server objects and Agent jobs that automate routine operations.

5. External System Integrations: Build and maintain integrations with external data systems and vendors, including state agencies and national healthcare data sources (e.g., NHSN). Develop automated tools that facilitate data submission and exchange for member hospitals.

6. Reporting and Analytics Delivery: Develop and maintain reports and analytics products using Tableau, Power BI, and similar tools. Fulfill ad hoc data requests from THA staff and support data subscriptions that generate direct revenue for the organization.

7. SQL Server Administration: Manage SQL Server environments across development and production: patching and version upgrades, backup and recovery processes, storage and capacity planning, index management, query performance tuning, and user access (logins, connection strings, permissions).

8. Data Security and HIPAA Compliance: Implement and maintain appropriate controls, auditing, authentication, and encryption on all protected datasets. Handle all data in accordance with HIPAA requirements, THA data security policy, and applicable data release agreements.

9. Collaboration and Support: Work with IS/IT staff, program teams, and data analysts to understand data needs and translate them into reliable technical solutions.

10. Availability: Must be available in the office during regular office hours unless job responsibilities require otherwise, or a hybrid work arrangement is in place.

MARGINAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

1. Provide guidance and support to application developers and data analysts

2. Create and maintain documentation for all processes, system configurations, and changes

DIMENSIONS:

Dollar Value:

Responsible for fulfilling special data requests and data subscriptions that generate over $275,000 in annual revenue for THA. Key technical role supporting the operation of the THA Health Information Network discharge data program, which generates nearly $1,100,000 in annual member dues.

Volume:

Database servers 5

Databases 25+

Direct database users 8

Direct reports 0

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:

Positions reporting directly to this role, if any: None

GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION:

Policies, precedents, or procedures that guide this work:

1. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

2. THA Information Security Policies and Procedures

3. THA Data Release Policy

4. CMS UB-04 Manual

HDDS User Manual

Do you have experience in Windows?, Do you have a Bachelor’s degree?, Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of experience in data engineering, ETL development, or a closely related technical role; 7-10 years strongly preferred. Equivalent hands-on professional experience considered in lieu of a degree. Demonstrated experience building and owning production data pipelines, not solely maintaining pipelines built by others, is required. Experience working in or with healthcare organizations or similar data-sensitive, compliance-oriented environments is preferred.

SKILLS REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THE JOB:

1. Advanced T-SQL development on SQL Server 2016+, including complex query writing, performance optimization, stored procedures, and schema design

2. Strong, hands-on ETL development experience with the ability to design, build, and debug production-grade data pipelines; SSIS experience required

3. SQL Server administration: patching, backup and restore, capacity planning, index management, performance tuning, and user access management

4. Report development using SSRS and Power BI

5. Experience with or active use of AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate development; must demonstrate foundational knowledge developed independent of those tools, sufficient to evaluate, validate, and correct AI-generated code

6. Healthcare data experience, particularly hospital discharge/claims data, financial, and quality/safety metrics, is strongly preferred; HIPAA compliance experience is required

7. Python experience for data automation, pipeline scripting, or API integration is strongly preferred

8. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate technical concepts effectively to non-technical staff

9. Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple concurrent projects

10. Windows Server 2016+; Microsoft Office including Excel

11. Microsoft Azure SQL familiarity a plus

12. SAS familiarity a plus