Staff Data Engineer (AWS)

ZipRecruiter; London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the challenger banking space is seeking a highly experienced Software Engineer for a Staff Engineer role within its Data Platform team. This key leadership position focuses on shaping the technical direction of data engineering, ensuring the team builds scalable, reliable, and secure data systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong foundation in data architecture, excellent development skills, and deep AWS proficiency. This role offers genuine career development opportunities in a forward-thinking environment.

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in data architecture and development skills.
• Experience in AWS and designing serverless systems.
• Ability to lead technical conversations around system architecture.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction of the data engineering function.
• Develop and maintain enterprise-scale data infrastructure within AWS.
• Shape the product roadmap and collaborate with stakeholders.

Skills

CI/CD

AWS

Data Architecture

Technical Mentorship

Tools

Terraform

GitHub Actions

AWS Lambda

S3

DynamoDB

Redshift

RDS

QuickSight

Job description

Job Description

A client in the challenger banking space is redefining how financial services should serve customers who are often overlooked by traditional banks. Focused on delivering clear, targeted mortgage and savings products, this organisation prioritises simplicity, transparency, and meaningful support during the moments that matter most.

This client is now seeking a highly experienced Software Engineer to take on the role of Staff Engineer (Tech Lead) within its Data Platform team. This is a key leadership role where you’ll be central to shaping the technical direction of the data engineering function. You’ll lead by example, offering technical mentorship while ensuring the team builds scalable, reliable, and secure data systems that align with wider business goals.

You’ll be responsible for developing and maintaining enterprise-scale data infrastructure within AWS, integrating data from numerous internal and external sources. The Data Platform functions as a core hub—making it easy and safe for teams to use and contribute to data systems. You’ll work with services like Lambda, S3, LakeFormation, Glue, Step Functions, Athena, EventBridge, SNS, SQS, and DynamoDB, and will be expected to navigate and manage data systems with a high degree of rigour and compliance. Familiarity with additional tools such as Redshift, RDS, and QuickSight will be advantageous during ongoing migrations from legacy environments.

Strong CI/CD expertise, especially using GitHub Actions, and hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform ) are essential.

You'll also evaluate and incorporate open-source or third-party tools to enhance performance and efficiency. Beyond technical implementation, you’ll contribute to shaping the product roadmap and collaborate with stakeholders across the business to help realise the full potential of the organisation’s data assets.

This role demands a strong foundation in data architecture, excellent development skills, and deep AWS proficiency. You should be adept at designing serverless systems, building resilient data pipelines, and leading technical conversations around system architecture. The ideal candidate will have a passion for engineering excellence, a quality-first mindset, and a strong interest in mentoring others and enabling their growth.

Additional strengths that would be beneficial but not essential include experience with Redshift, strong SQL capabilities, working knowledge of DynamoDB Streams, and an awareness of data privacy and regulatory standards within financial services.

This is a great opportunity for someone looking to progress their career to the next level with genuine career development opportunities in a forward-thinking environment. Apply now!