Data Engineer

Salford-Council; Swinton; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

Salford City Council is building modern, cloud-based data platforms to enable trusted insight and AI-driven services. This role focuses on designing, building and operating data pipelines, data lifecycle management and governance to support analytics across the organisation.

The data engineering position is hands-on and delivery-focused, partnering with analytics and AI teams to translate service needs into robust data solutions that drive better public services in Salford.

Qualifications

• Experience designing, building and operating data platforms in production environments.
• Strong experience with cloud-native platforms and data pipelines.
• Knowledge of data lifecycle management and data quality practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and run data engineering solutions for analytics and AI use cases.
• Own data ingestion, structuring, governance and sharing across the organisation.
• Collaborate with analytics, AI and digital teams to translate needs into scalable data solutions.

Skills

Cloud platforms

Data pipelines

Data governance

Production environments

Job description

About us

Salford is an ambitious, globally connected city with a strong digital and innovation ecosystem centred around MediaCity and the University of Salford. Salford City Council is investing in modern data and digital platforms to transform how public services are designed, delivered and improved.

Our growing AI & Data function sits at the heart of this transformation. We are building modern, cloud-based data platforms that enable trusted insight, support intelligent services, and provide the foundations for responsible AI. Our work directly supports the council’s ambition to create a fairer, greener and healthier Salford by making better use of data across the organisation.

About the Role

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced data engineer to play a key role in building and operating the council’s modern data platforms. You'll design, develop and run data engineering solutions supporting analytics, insight and AI use cases. Working with lakehouse-style architectures and cloud platforms, you'll take ownership of data pipelines and data lifecycle management.

The role is hands‑on and delivery‑focused and you'll work closely with analytics, AI and digital portfolio teams to translate service and reporting needs into sustainable data solutions. You'll shape how data is ingested, structured, governed and shared across the organisation, ensuring data is secure, high quality and fit for purpose.

This role is ideal for someone who wants to apply strong data engineering expertise in a complex, meaningful environment and help lay the foundations for long‑term data and AI capability in the public sector.

About you

You're a data engineer with demonstrable experience of designing, building and operating data platforms in production environments. You're comfortable working in cloud-native platforms and have strong experience with data pipelines, modern data architectures and managing data across its full lifecycle.

You can balance robustness, scalability and cost of solutions whilst maintaining high standards of data quality. You enjoy working collaboratively, translating service needs into technical solutions and supporting others to make effective use of shared data platforms and data governance.

You're passionate, continuously developing your skills, and motivated by the opportunity to use data to improve public services.

If you have any queries about the role, contact Adam Grant (Head of AI and Data): [e-mail]

What we need from you if you are invited to interview:

• Passport/ID - You will be required to provide original documentation confirming your right to work in the UK. Successful candidates will also be required to provide proof of address.

• Qualifications/registrations – if applicable for the role

Want to know more about Salford?

As an authority we are dedicated to improving the lives of our residents, and as an employer we are passionate about helping individuals to thrive in their work. We are committed to developing a diverse and inclusive culture and are proud of our professional accreditations which champion this.

Find out about our city as a place to live, work & grow, and learn more about the amazing work we are doing. You’ll also find out about the wealth of benefits we have to offer you on our Salford pages!

Privacy Statement and Data Protection

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary Recruitment and Employment Privacy Notice which can be found at https://www.salford.gov.uk/gdpr .