Principal Data Engineer - CX Analytics

Join Unum Group’s Customer Experience Organization as a Principal Data Engineer within the CX Analytics team. This hybrid role in Portland, ME focuses on building trustworthy, reusable data foundations that enable BI, reporting, and advanced analytics. You will help drive scalable pipelines and data models, integrate structured and unstructured sources, and support AI and LLM-based workflows that extract signal from inputs such as raw text.

What you’ll do

• Partner with business stakeholders to deliver end-to-end data pipeline development, including construction, testing, and ongoing maintenance.
• Integrate large volumes of highly complex data from multiple sources, including DB2, SQL Server, Web API, and Teradata.
• Apply validation, aggregation, and reconciliation techniques to establish a rich, consistent data framework.
• Collaborate with data scientists and business partners to understand the analytics problem and design data structures tailored to the intended solution.
• Build and maintain best practices for the team’s data engineering strategy, staying current on industry approaches while improving efficiency and innovation.
• Contribute to the evolution of enterprise data architecture, including adoption of current and emerging data frameworks and tools (including hosting data in Cloud).
• Prepare results for interpretation and visualization, and communicate findings and potential value to influence strategic decision-making.
• Support integration of solutions into existing business processes using automation techniques.
• Research and apply modern software and data engineering practices, including new theory and emerging tools.
• Provide support, training, and mentorship to lower-level Data Engineer peers.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Key skills and requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field is required.
• 8+ years of professional experience (or equivalent relevant work experience) is preferred.
• Expertise in at least one relevant object-oriented programming language: Java/Scala or Python, plus DevOps best practices including CI/CD, process automation, and optimization.
• Strong understanding of data architecture principles and infrastructure needs across on-prem and Cloud environments.
• Ability to understand and present data in context, including how it builds toward business solutions.
• Preferred: writing complex SQL queries that join multiple tables/databases.
• Preferred: independently explore databases/tables and legacy data to identify the best sources for solving business problems.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex SQL queries with little guidance.
• Ability to create logical data models combining data from multiple internal and external sources.
• Demonstrated communication skills, experience in financial services, leadership working with senior management and executive leadership, and strong attention to detail while prioritizing work across multiple projects.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and explain problems and communicate appropriate solutions.
• Viewed as a leader in the field internally and externally, with coaching and mentorship responsibilities.
• Experience in change management leadership and maintaining deep technical understanding of third-party and cloud solutions.
• People management: actively participates in determining staffing needs, including hiring and development; leads assigned team activities and projects.
• Engineering strategic and program management: coaches and mentors to help build the team.
• Proactive research into new approaches and skills needed for data science and advanced analytics work.
• Entrepreneurial self-starter, lifelong learner, and independent R&D mindset shared internally and externally.

Technologies you’ll work with

• Java, Scala, Python
• CI/CD, SQL
• DB2, SQL Server, Web API, Teradata
• Cloud

Compensation and benefits

Salary range: USD 109,100 to 224,000 per year.

• Health insurance, vision insurance, and dental insurance
• Short & Long-Term Disability
• Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!)
• Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution
• Mental health support
• Career advancement opportunities
• Student loan repayment options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flexible work environments
• Performance-based incentive plans
• 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match up to 5% and an additional 4.5% contribution whether you contribute to the plan or not

Work arrangement: This is a campus-based role. Current remote and field-based Unum employees may apply and will be considered in accordance with company policy.