Data Platform Lead: Azure, Databricks & AI Readiness

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to architect a modern, cloud-first data platform and lead a growing team from Manchester. You will shape data governance, enable AI-readiness, and drive data democratisation across a global firm.

You will own scalable data lakehouse designs, lead the Data Engineering team, and collaborate with Data Office leadership to define strategy and delivery. Strong Azure, Databricks, and leadership experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and delivering data lake/lakehouse architectures in an enterprise cloud environment (Azure).
• Hands-on with Databricks, Spark, PySpark, SQL and core Azure Data Services (Data Lake Storage, Synapse, Data Factory).
• Experience with data governance and cataloguing tools such as Collibra or Purview; familiarity with dbt, streaming frameworks and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain scalable, secure data lake/lakehouse solutions on Azure.
• Develop batch and streaming ETL/ELT pipelines with Data Factory, PySpark, SQL and Airflow; integrate with dbt and CI/CD.
• Implement data cataloguing, lineage tracking and governance with Collibra or Purview.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Data governance awareness

Tools

Databricks

Spark

PySpark

SQL

Azure Data Lake Storage

Synapse Analytics

Data Factory

dbt

CI/CD

Airflow

Job description

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is seeking a Principal Data Engineer to architect a modern, cloud-first data platform and lead a growing team from Manchester. You will shape data governance, enable AI-readiness, and drive data democratisation across a global firm.

You will own scalable data lakehouse designs, lead the Data Engineering team, and collaborate with Data Office leadership to define strategy and delivery. Strong Azure, Databricks, and leadership experience are essential.