Lead Data Engineer - Healthcare Data & Audience Applications

Lead Software Engineer - Healthcare Data & Audience ApplicationsNashville, TNWho We AreZeta Global is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry's largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs.

Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. To learn more, go to OverviewZeta Global is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to build and scale healthcare-focused applications and data systems that power audience intelligence, activation, measurement, and reporting across both HCP and DTC workflows.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role operating at the intersection of distributed systems, data engineering, and healthcare domain constraints. You will design and deliver systems that integrate identity, audience data, and campaign performance while meeting strict requirements for privacy, compliance, and reliability. The ideal candidate brings strong system design depth, experience building data-intensive platforms, and the ability to lead through architecture and execution in regulated environments.What You'll BuildFull-stack applications supporting HCP and patient (DTC) audience discovery, segmentation, and activationScalable data pipelines for ingestion, normalization, and enrichment of healthcare datasetsIdentity resolution and data linkage services across fragmented data sourcesReporting, attribution, and measurement systems connecting campaigns to outcomesAPIs and services enabling downstream activation, analytics, and partner integrationsKey ResponsibilitiesLead architecture and hands-on development of distributed systems supporting healthcare data workflowsDesign and implement scalable data pipelines (batch and streaming) for large-scale datasetsBuild and maintain APIs and services with strong SLAs, observability, and fault toleranceImplement identity resolution logic including matching, deduplication, and graph-based linkageEnsure high data quality through validation, reconciliation, and monitoring frameworksDesign systems with strong security controls, including encryption, access control, and auditabilityApply privacy-by-design principles across all systems handling PHI/PIIPartner with Product and Data teams to translate healthcare requirements into scalable architecturesDrive engineering best practices across testing, CI/CD, code quality, and operational excellenceMentor engineers and act as a technical leader across the teamEngineering ExpectationsStrong experience designing distributed systems (microservices, event-driven architectures)Deep understanding of data modeling, storage systems (OLTP, OLAP), and data processing frameworksExperience with streaming and batch processing (e.g., Kafka, Spark, Flink, or similar)Proficiency in backend development (Python, Java, or Ruby) and API design (REST/gRPC)Experience building modern front-end applications (React or similar)Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and infrastructure-as-codeFamiliarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)Experience implementing observability (logging, metrics, tracing) and reliability patternsStrong understanding of performance optimization and scalability tradeoffsHealthcare & Domain ExpectationsExperience working with HCP data (provider identity, targeting, segmentation)Experience with patient / DTC data workflows and privacy-aware systemsUnderstanding of healthcare data ecosystems (claims, provider, or audience datasets)Familiarity with identity graphs and data onboarding patternsExperience building reporting or attribution systems tied to business outcomesStrong grasp of HIPAA, PHI/PII, and regulated data handling requirementsQualifications8–10 years of software engineering experience with increasing technical ownershipProven track record of building and scaling data-intensive or distributed systemsExperience working in regulated environments (healthcare strongly preferred)Strong system design and architecture skillsAbility to lead technically while remaining hands-on in implementationStrong collaboration skills across engineering, product, and data teamsPreferredExperience with healthcare data providers or identity ecosystemsBackground in AdTech, MarTech, or audience/data platformsExperience with privacy-enhancing technologies (tokenization, clean rooms)Exposure to ML/AI-driven data products or analytics systemsBenefits & PerksUnlimited PTOExcellent medical, dental, and vision coverageEmployee EquityEmployee Discounts, Virtual Wellness Classes, and Pet Insurance And more!!Salary RangeThe salary range for this role is $200,000 - $215,000, depending on location and experience.People & Culture at ZetaZeta considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Zeta discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.We're committed to building a workplace culture of trust and belonging, so everyone feels invited to bring their whole selves to work.

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