23533 - Lead Data Engineer

The Methodist Church in Britain; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employer pension 28.97%

25 days' annual leave + 8 bank hols +

Hybrid/part-time/compressed hours

£1k learning budget per person

Maternity, adoption and shared par. le

Flexible benefits, discounts

Free annual sight tests

Job summary

The Ministry of Justice is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to drive data engineering across the Justice Data division. You will lead a team delivering scalable data flows, analytical pipelines, and self-service capabilities for the Analytical Platform in AWS.

Responsibilities include line management, setting strategic direction, and collaboration with stakeholders to meet data needs while ensuring secure, compliant delivery.

Qualifications

• Designing and building data pipelines that bring complex data sources together.
• Leading and setting technical direction for a team and developing others' capability.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of data engineers building robust, scalable automated data flows across operational, analytics and BI systems.
• Develop analytical pipelines and self-service tools to acquire and transform data for the Analytical Platform.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand needs and set project goals and deliverables.
• Apply systems integration knowledge to the team's work.
• Use AWS services to deploy solutions in a reproducible, sustainable way.
• Create and promote best practice within the team and wider.
• Champion data engineering across the department and beyond.
• Line manage more junior colleagues.
• Support Analytical Platform users to use data and tools.
• Lead and organise team building and development initiatives.
• Update and maintain technical documentation.
• Keep up to date with engineering trends and best practice.

Skills

Python

SQL

Data pipelines

Stakeholder management

Tools

AWS

Job description

This Lead Data Engineer post sits in Justice Data at the Ministry of Justice's Justice Digital, Data and Science unit. The work centres on leading data engineers who build automated, scalable data flows linking operational systems to analytics, plus pipelines and self-service tools for the Analytical Platform. Distinct features include line management of junior colleagues, championing data engineering across the department, and cloud delivery on AWS. Security clearance is required, and eligibility is limited to existing Civil Service and accredited NDPB staff.

What the job involves

• Lead a team of data engineers building robust, scalable automated data flows across operational, analytics and BI systems
• Develop analytical pipelines and self-service tools to acquire and transform data for the Analytical Platform
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand needs and set project goals and deliverables
• Apply systems integration knowledge to the team's work
• Use AWS services to deploy solutions in a reproducible, sustainable way
• Create and promote best practice within the team and wider
• Champion data engineering across the department and beyond
• Line manage more junior colleagues
• Support Analytical Platform users to use data and tools
• Lead and organise team building and development initiatives
• Update and maintain technical documentation
• Keep up to date with engineering trends and best practice

What’s required

Experience

• Designing and building data pipelines that bring complex data sources together
• Leading and setting technical direction for a team and developing others' capability

Skills & knowledge

• Strong proficiency in one or more programming languages, ideally Python and SQL
• Understanding of the software development lifecycle, including testing, version control and CI/CD
• Communicating with technical and non-technical stakeholders and managing their expectations

Checks & eligibility

• Willingness to be assessed against SC clearance requirements
• Existing Civil Service or accredited NDPB employee appointed on merit
• Eligible under Civil Service nationality rules

Other

• Demonstrable passion for data engineering

What’s offered

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme
• 25 days' annual leave rising to 30 after five years, plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day
• Hybrid, part-time or compressed hours working
• 10% of working time for personal and professional development
• £1k learning budget per person
• Maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, with full pay for up to 26 weeks
• Flexible benefits, retail vouchers and discounts
• Free annual sight tests for screen users