Senior data engineer - IT department

Als grootste universitaire ziekenhuis van België wil UZ Leuven grenzen verleggen door gespecialiseerde zorg en innovatieve behandelingen te combineren met menselijke aandacht en respect voor elke persoon.

Met meer dan 10.000 gepassioneerde medewerkers geven we elke dag de beste zorg op maat. We dagen onszelf uit en gaan voor kwaliteit op alle vlakken. Zelfs als het moeilijk wordt en bijna onmogelijk lijkt. We tillen elkaar naar een hoger niveau. Samenwerken zit in ons DNA.

We zetten in op toonaangevend onderzoek en we geven opleiding aan jong talent. Onze beste ambassadeurs zijn de medewerkers van vandaag. Zij maken het verschil en verleggen grenzen, elke dag opnieuw. UZ Leuven wil mensen aantrekken met diezelfde drive en openheid van geest. Ben jij ook een grensverlegger?

Build the data platform that makes tomorrow's healthcare possible.

Breaking ground as a senior data engineer

At UZ Leuven, we strive to provide every patient with the best possible care. We do this together. Warmly, compassionately, and with respect. Through leading-edge research, continuous professional development, and by educating others, we are shaping the healthcare of tomorrow.

Within UZ Leuven, IT is of strategic importance. We are highly digitised, supporting both administrative and medical applications.
You will join the IT department, where we are currently looking for a senior data engineer.

As senior data engineer, you will play a central role in building and operating our next generation data platform. You will design and maintain reliable data ingestion processes, develop scalable ELT/ETL workflows, and ensure that our data assets are secure, discoverable, and usable across the organization.

Working in a hospital environment also means operating at the cutting edge of data security, resilience, and privacy. You will work closely with other engineers and external partners, helping to break down data silos and deliver high quality data products that power decision making.

This is a full-time, permanent position.

How will you break ground?

• You will build, optimize, and operate scalable ELT/ETL pipelines using SQL and modern data tools.
• You will develop robust data ingestion processes from multiple complex systems, including healthcare data sources (e.g. patient-level data).
• You will contribute to the development of high-quality data models.
• You will collaborate closely with other Data, Infrastructure, and MLOps teams.
• You will implement and maintain infrastructure-as-code using Terraform to ensure secure, traceable, and reliable platform deployments.
• You will participate in the development of our data catalog and metadata structures. You will support early initiatives in knowledge graph or semantic modeling.
• You will ensure platform reliability, data quality, and compliance with security and governance standards in a high-risk and high-demand environment.
• You will collaborate with cross-functional teams and external partners, providing well-documented, trustworthy datasets and platform capabilities.
• You will drive continuous improvement by proposing new approaches, testing new technologies, and challenging existing assumptions.

What qualifications do you need?

• You have a master's degree in IT, or equivalent experience.
• Candidates who do not yet speak Dutch are welcome to apply. We expect sufficient command of English for effective collaboration within the team, and we ask non-Dutch-speaking candidates to obtain a B2 level at a recognized school within two years.
• You have senior-level experience in data engineering or data platform roles, ideally across multiple organizations.
• You have strong proficiency in SQL (must-have) and Python, and experience developing production-grade ELT/ETL pipelines.
• You have solid understanding of data modeling principles.
• You have hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code.
• You have experience with cloud platforms (preferably GCP) and BI tools.
• Familiarity with healthcare data (patient data, EHRs, medical ontologies, OMOP, HL7/FHIR) is a plus.
• You have knowledge of data governance concepts and best practices.
• Comfort making high-impact decisions in a sensitive, high-risk environment with strict security and reliability expectations.
• You have a structured, collaborative, and analytical mindset paired with curiosity and a willingness to innovate.
• You are able to operate in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.