Senior Data Engineer

ZipRecruiter; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Staff Data Engineer to lead the design and implementation of critical data infrastructure. This senior role involves collaborating with engineers and stakeholders to create scalable data solutions, ensuring high performance and reliability. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with modern data tools and frameworks, and a strong background in data modeling and distributed systems.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in data engineering or related field.
• Experience with data governance, privacy, and compliance frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable, reliable, and high-performance data systems.
• Own complex technical systems end-to-end, from concept to production.

Skills

Data Engineering

Communication

Tools

Spark

dbt

Airflow

Kafka

Databricks

AWS

GCP

Azure

SQL

Python

Scala

Java

Terraform

Job description

Job Description

We’re Hiring: Staff/Lead Data Engineer

Location: Central belt Scotland - Hybrid 3 days on site

Employment Type: Full-Time | Senior Individual Contributor

We are working exclusively on an exciting opportunity for a Staff Data Engineer to lead the technical design and implementation of our most critical data infrastructure and products. In this senior-level individual contributor role, you’ll be responsible for designing scalable systems, setting data architecture standards, and solving complex technical challenges that power analytics, data science, and business functions across the company.

You’ll collaborate with engineers, product managers, and business stakeholders to architect performant, reliable, and long-term data solutions that are customer-centric and business-aligned.

What You’ll Do:

• Design and build scalable, reliable, and high-performance data systems.
• Define and drive best practices for data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and real-time streaming architectures.
• Set technical direction and architectural standards across the data platform.
• Work closely with cross-functional partners to meet evolving business and analytical needs.
• Own complex technical systems end-to-end, from concept to production.
• Advocate for engineering excellence and mentor other engineers on the team.

Technical Skills:

• 8+ years of experience in data engineering or a related field, with a focus on building scalable data systems and platforms.
• Strong expertise with modern data tools and frameworks such as Spark, dbt, Airflow, Kafka, Databricks, and cloud services (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Deep understanding of data modeling, distributed systems, streaming architectures, and ETL/ELT pipelines.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one programming language such as Python, Scala, or Java.
• Demonstrated experience owning and delivering complex systems from architecture through implementation.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• Experience designing data platforms that support analytics, machine learning, and real-time operational workloads.
• Familiarity with data governance, privacy, and compliance frameworks (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).
• Background in customer-centric or product-driven industries such as digital, eCommerce, or SaaS.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform and expertise in data observability and monitoring practices.