Data Engineer

Setec Alpha; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Setec Alpha, based in London, is seeking a Data Engineer to design and develop data-intensive platforms and scalable software solutions. You will own data pipelines and contribute to building robust, observable infrastructure in a fast-paced hedge fund environment.

The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, collaboration, and adherence to high engineering standards across architecture, testing, and CI/CD.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software development experience.
• Experience designing and operating data-intensive, distributed systems.
• Experience with relational, NoSQL, and columnar databases.
• Hands-on, end-to-end ownership of systems and responsibilities.
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment with multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain software using Python.
• Follow high engineering standards across architecture, implementation, testing, and CI/CD.
• Focus on data quality, reliability, and operational simplicity in data and software systems.
• Enhance and maintain legacy systems including microservices, ETL pipelines, and Excel add-ins.
• Collaborate with team members, participate in code reviews and problem solving.
• Develop infrastructure management including IaC and disaster recovery.
• Improve observability: logging, monitoring, alerting, health checks.
• Manage Windows and Linux environments, diagnose network/system issues.
• Maintain databases: backups, replication, reliability.
• Provide technical support to maintain platform reliability.
• Monitor system health and respond to ad hoc queries.

Skills

Python

Distributed systems

Data platforms

Databases

CI/CD

DevOps

Excel add-ins

Tools

Excel add-ins

SQL

Job description

My client are a Hedge Fund based in London looking for a Data Engineer. You must have built data systems and processes from scratch previously. The successful candidate will;

Optimise and Develop the Data Platform

• Design, develop, and maintain software using Python.
• Follow high engineering standards across architecture, implementation, testing, and CI/CD.
• Focus on data quality, reliability, and operational simplicity when designing both data and software systems.
• Enhance and maintain existing systems and legacy code, including microservices, ETL pipelines, Excel add-ins, and other components.
• Work closely with the team, contributing to code reviews and collaborative problem-solving.

Improve Software Infrastructure

• Develop and improve infrastructure management, including Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and disaster recovery.
• Strengthen observability across the platform, including logging, monitoring, alerting, and system health checks.
• Manage Windows and Linux environments, diagnosing and resolving network and system-level issues.
• Maintain databases, including backup processes, replication, and general database reliability.

Support and Maintain Platform Operations

• Provide technical support to help maintain platform reliability and resolve user issues.
• Monitor system health, carry out regular checks, and investigate and resolve problems as they arise.
• Respond efficiently to ad hoc technical queries and requests.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software development experience.
• Experience designing and operating data-intensive, distributed systems.
• Experience working with databases, including relational, NoSQL, and columnar databases.
• Comfortable working in a hands-on, end-to-end environment where you may own a wide range of technical responsibilities.
• Able to work effectively in a dynamic environment with multiple concurrent projects and priorities.
• Interest in, or experience with, DevOps practices is a plus.
• Experience working with financial or market data is a plus.
• Interest in, or experience with, data engineering or data science is a plus.