Data Engineer

The Health Data Service (HDS) unit builds IT and data solutions that support registries, data collection platforms, and research studies at LIH. We work closely with researchers, principal investigators, and national partners such as the Ministry of Health.

The Data Engineer will design, build, and maintain the data pipelines and infrastructure that power LIH’s research data ecosystem. Within a matrix-based organisation, you will be responsible for moving health data reliably from source systems into LIH’s central on-premises data infrastructure, making it available for research in standardised, queryable formats. The work spans internal research data (Health Data Standard, studies, NCER-PD) and potentially hospital-sourced clinical data depending on assignment.

Key Accountabilities

• Design, develop, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines for health data from multiple sources including clinical systems, research databases, registries, and external partners.
• Build and operate on-premises data infrastructure components including data warehouses, data lakes, and API layers.
• Ensure data pipelines are reliable, monitored, and recoverable with appropriate logging and alerting.
• Work with the data modeler to implement openEHR-based data structures in production systems.
• Collaborate with research teams to understand data requirements and deliver datasets in usable formats.
• Support the operation and maintenance of the clinical data repository.
• Contribute to infrastructure-as-code practices, documentation, and deployment automation.
• Implement and maintain data quality checks within pipelines to catch issues at ingestion and transformation stages.
• Participate in on-call or incident response for critical data systems as needed.
• Contribute to cross-functional coordination sessions, team planning, and knowledge sharing.

Key Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Medical Informatics, or a related field.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in data engineering or backend development, preferably in a healthcare or research environment.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and at least one programming language (Python, Java, Scala, or similar).
• Experience with ETL/ELT tools and frameworks (Apache NiFi, Airflow, dbt, Talend, or comparable).
• Solid experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, SQL Server) and ideally document or graph-based stores.
• Experience with containerisation (Docker) and on-premises orchestration tools.
• Understanding of health data standards (HL7 FHIR, openEHR) is a significant advantage.
• Experience working with sensitive or regulated data (patient data, GDPR compliance) is preferred.
• Strong communication skills; able to collaborate with stakeholders across technical and non-technical backgrounds.
• Fluent in English (written and oral); French or German is an asset.
• Experience working in agile environments; ability to coordinate technical delivery across cross-functional and matrix-based teams.

Required Tech Stack

• Python, SQL (PostgreSQL, SQL Server).
• Apache NiFi, Airflow, dbt, or comparable pipeline orchestration tools.
• Docker, Docker Compose, on-premises container orchestration.
• Git, CI/CD pipelines.
• RESTful API design and integration.
• Data warehouse and data lake design patterns.
• Monitoring and logging tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, or comparable).
• Familiarity with openEHR CDR (e.g. EHRbase), Mirth and FHIR servers is a plus.

Gender Equality

The LIH is an equal opportunities employer. We are fully committed to removing any discriminatory barrier related to gender, and not only, in recruitment and career progression of our staff. The LIH is attentive to gender representation among its leadership staff and aims to eliminate obstacles to the recruitment and promotion of female leaders and their career development.