Data Platform Lead — Hands-on, Mentoring Engineers

Oxford Knight; England; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Oxford Knight is partnering with a leading tech-driven prop trading firm to recruit a head of data engineering. The role combines leadership with hands-on development to shape the firm’s data platform and governance.

You will mentor engineers, define architectural direction, and drive delivery across data modeling, storage, and compute frameworks. You will collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into practical solutions, establish best practices, and foster a culture of

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience leading engineers in a technical environment.
• 5+ years’ hands-on data engineering experience with modern data technologies.
• Experience with Airflow/Kafka/Spark, Python or Java.
• Familiarity with data modeling, storage systems, and compute frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a small team of data engineers and own the data platform architecture.
• Hands-on development and leadership, driving project ownership and continuous improvement.
• Balance stakeholder engagement with delivery, shaping platform direction and practices.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to understand requirements and refine the team’s practices.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Team management

Stakeholder communication

Data platform ownership

Tools

Airflow

Kafka

Spark

Python

Java

Job description

Oxford Knight is partnering with a leading tech-driven prop trading firm to recruit a head of data engineering. The role combines leadership with hands-on development to shape the firm’s data platform and governance.

You will mentor engineers, define architectural direction, and drive delivery across data modeling, storage, and compute frameworks. You will collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into practical solutions, establish best practices, and foster a culture of