Data Engineer

Overview
The Data Engineer will play a crucial role in advancing the CDC Foundation's mission by designing, building, and maintaining data infrastructure for a public health organization. This role is aligned to the Workforce Acceleration Initiative (WAI). WAI is a federally funded CDC Foundation program with the goal of helping the nation’s public health agencies by providing them with the technology and data experts they need to accelerate their information system improvements.

Working within the Mississippi Department of Health, the Data Engineer will deliver technical solutions to establish a coordinated, scalable approach to HL7 onboarding of healthcare providers across Mississippi, enabling automated, electronic submission of reportable public health data through MSDH’s Rhapsody Integration Engine. This project will focus on provider readiness assessment, HL7 interface implementation, message routing, and operational integration to reduce manual data entry, improve surveillance timeliness, and strengthen MSDH’s public health response capabilities.

The Data Engineer will be hired by the CDC Foundation and assigned to the Mississippi Department of Health. This position is eligible for a fully remote work arrangement for U.S. based candidates.

Responsibilities[RC1] 

• Create and manage the systems and pipelines that enable efficient and reliable flow of data, including ingestion, processing, and storage, as specified below:
  • HL7 Provider Onboarding
    • Assess technical readiness of healthcare providers statewide
    • Support implementation of HL7 v2 interfaces with reporting facilities
    • Provide standardized onboarding processes, templates, and guidance
  • Integration and Message Routing
    • Configure and maintain HL7 message routing through Rhapsody
    • Ensure secure, reliable delivery of data to downstream surveillance systems
    • Support testing, validation, and troubleshooting of interfaces
  • Program Support and Standardization
    • Prioritize onboarding for Immunizations (MIIX), Lead Surveillance, and other high-impact programs
    • Standardize workflows, message formats, and onboarding documentation
    • Coordinate onboarding activities across MSDH program areas
  • Workforce Capacity and Knowledge Transfer
    • Develop onboarding guides, implementation playbooks, and technical documentation
    • Transfer knowledge to MSDH staff to sustain onboarding operations
    • Embed repeatable processes into core MSDH workflows

• Collect data from various sources, transforming and cleaning it to ensure accuracy and consistency. Load data into storage systems or data warehouses.
• Optimize data pipelines, infrastructure, and workflows for performance and scalability.
• Monitor data pipelines and systems for performance issues, errors, and anomalies, and implement solutions to address them.
• Implement security measures to protect sensitive information.
• Collaborate with other partners to understand their data needs and requirements, and to ensure that the data infrastructure supports the organization's goals and objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand data requirements and design scalable solutions that meet business needs.
• Communicate effectively with partners at all levels of the organization to gather requirements, provide updates, and present findings.
• Up to 10% domestic travel may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience, including 3 years of Rhapsody integration engineering experience specifically.
• Experience regarding engineering best practices such as source control, automated testing, continuous integration and deployment, and peer review.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms.
• Expertise in data modeling, ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, and data integration techniques.
• Familiarity with agile development methodologies, software design patterns, and best practices.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical partners effectively.
• Flexibility to adapt to evolving project requirements and priorities.
• Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills; and the ability to develop productive working relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Experience working in a virtual environment with remote partners and teams
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Job Highlights

• Location: Remote, must be based in the United States, Up to 10% domestic travel may be required.
• Salary Range: $103,500-$143,500 per year, plus benefits. Individual salary offers will be based on experience and qualifications unique to each candidate. 
• Position Type: Grant funded, limited-term opportunity
• Position End Date: June 30, 2027

Special Notes

This role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by the CDC Foundation in order to best support the public health programming.

The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.

Relocation expenses are not included.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law. 

We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.

About the CDC Foundation 

The CDC Foundation helps CDC save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. The CDC Foundation

manages hundreds of programs each year impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. Visit www.cdcfoundation.org for more information. 

 [RC1]These bullets can be adjusted based on the specific needs of the PHA project/role.