Data Engineer

Bookouture; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 28 days

Private medical insurance

Community days 2

Summer hours

Book discounts

Cycle to Work

Training library

Mentoring programmes

Up to 70% off books

Staff networks

Season ticket loans

Job summary

Bookouture, a Hachette UK digital publisher, seeks a Data Engineer to design robust data systems and drive data-driven decision making. You will build new SQL Server databases, ingestion pipelines, and optimize SSIS processes while enabling data access across departments and supporting ML projects.

You will work with Tableau/Power BI dashboards, collaborate with the Data & Analysis Director, and contribute to a dynamic data team in London with hybrid work arrangements.

Qualifications

• Relational database design and development experience.
• SQL Server expert with queries, stored procedures and indexing.
• SSIS data integration and ETL experience.
• Azure integrations experience.
• AI tools for operational projects experience.
• REST APIs integration experience.
• Python automation for data tasks.
• Tableau/Power BI data visualization experience.

Responsibilities

• Design and build new SQL Server databases from scratch, including schema design, tables, views, stored procedures and indexing to support new systems and reporting.
• Build ingestion workflows for new data sources from scratch, end-to-end ingestion from source to reporting layer with validation and error handling.
• Analyze and streamline existing on-premise relational databases (SQL Server) and SSIS ETL packages.
• Collaborate with department heads to support data access for projects and cross-team collaboration.
• Maintain and review Tableau Cloud dashboards and develop new reporting streams.
• Work with Publishing Innovation Director to develop data structures for ML projects.
• Respond to team requests, troubleshoot issues, generate ad-hoc reports, and automate manual tasks.
• Continuously review workflows to maximise efficiency and reduce errors.

Skills

SQL Server

SSIS

Azure

Python

Tableau

Power BI

REST APIs

Data modeling

ETL

Automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Azure Data Factory

Git

PowerShell

Job description

Bookouture is the UK’s most successful and innovative digital publisher of commercial fiction. We are part of Hachette UK and following fourteen years of market‑leading growth have sold over 100 million books to readers worldwide with a further 14 billion Kindle pages read of our titles.

In the role of Data Engineer, reporting to the Data & Analysis Director, you’ll be responsible for designing new data structures from the ground up as well as evolving those already in place - ensuring this data‑driven business has robust data systems, with accurate information and reporting available at all times. We’re looking not only for experience with business‑critical database design and management, but a confident team player who makes a habit of improving the way things are done, embraces change, and brings creativity to every problem.

What you’ll be doing

• Design and build new SQL Server databases from scratch — schema design, tables, views, stored procedures and indexing — to support new business systems and reporting requirements.
• Build ingestion workflows for new data sources from scratch — retailer and platform feeds, advertising and marketing data, third‑party APIs, etc — designing and building the end‑to‑end ingestion process from source to reporting layer with appropriate validation and error handling.
• Analyse and streamline existing on‑premise relational databases (SQL Server) and ETL packages (SSIS).
• Work closely with department heads across the division to support any projects requiring access to our data or collaboration with the Data Department and vice versa
• Maintain and review existing data visualisation dashboards (Tableau Cloud) and develop new reporting streams
• Work with the Publishing Innovation Director to develop data structures suitable for use in machine‑learning projects
• Respond to team requests, including troubleshooting issues, generating ad‑hoc reports, and building automations for currently manual tasks
• Constantly appraise existing workflows to maximise efficiency and reduce the chance of errors

Who we are looking for

Experience/Knowledge

• Computer science background with extensive workplace experience of relational databases
• Proficient in relational database schema design and structural planning (essential)
• Significant experience working with SQL Server, writing queries, building stored procedures, and developing data flows (essential)
• Experience working with SSIS packages to manage and improve daily import processes (derived columns, lookups, conditional splits for incremental loads)
• Experience of Microsoft Azure integrations
• Confident and effective user of AI tools for operational projects
• Experience integrating systems via REST APIs and managing data between platforms
• Experience building and optimising automations in Python (data syncs, API integrations, scheduled jobs)
• Experience with data visualisation tools (Tableau, Power BI or similar)

Personal Attributes/Skills

• Strong problem‑solver who isn't satisfied with a working solution if a better one exists.
• Performance‑minded, with a focus on proactively optimising processes for speed and reliability
• Detail‑oriented, with a sharp eye for data quality, edge cases, and inconsistencies
• Pro‑active and self‑directed, able to drive a task from problem to tested solution
• Adaptable and comfortable switching tools, languages, or approaches when the situation calls for it.
• Clear and confident communicator. You will be working often with less technical staff, understanding what is being asked of you and explaining what is and isn’t possible clearly is integral. Consistent updates on projects to stakeholders and teams involved is also key.

What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• An active range of staff‑led employee networks that are voluntary, including AgeWise, Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing, Women in Tech and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

The role will be based at our London office, with a blend of in‑office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio‑economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to perform at their best during our recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, you can let us know at the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application. We’ll make sure you’re supported throughout the process.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org