Head of Data Engineering

Jackalope Digital LLC; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

PHMG is seeking a Head of Data Engineering to lead the Data Engineering team in Manchester, shaping a modern data platform and delivering on the Data Strategy. You will own the core data platform, drive engineering practices, and collaborate with IT and business teams to translate strategy into delivery while championing technical excellence.

The role offers hybrid working from our Manchester office and the opportunity to work with cloud data platforms including Snowflake, Databricks and

Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership of Data Engineering teams in enterprise environments.
• Experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale data platforms and architectures.
• Strong understanding of modern ETL/ELT practices and scalable pipelines.
• Advanced SQL and Python development skills with hands-on cloud data experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and develop the Data Engineering team, building capability and best practices.
• Own PHMG's core data platform, architecture, data warehouse and pipelines; ensure scalable, reliable and cost-effective solutions.
• Oversee Data Engineering delivery, prioritisation and design to agreed standards.
• Embed strong engineering practices across source control, CI/CD, testing, code review, documentation, monitoring and error handling.
• Collaborate with the wider Data team to translate strategy into an engineering roadmap and delivery plan.
• Work with IT, Infrastructure and other teams on architecture, integrations and migrations.
• Identify opportunities to improve performance, reliability and efficiency of PHMG's data capability.

Skills

SQL

Python

Cloud platforms

ETL/ELT design

CI/CD

Code review

dbt data modelling

Data governance

Agile delivery

Stakeholder mgmt

Tools

dbt

Terraform

CloudFormation

Job description

Role:Head of Data Engineering

Location:Manchesterbased office – Hybrid working

Package:£90k OTE

PHMG is continuing to develop and mature its data capability, focusing on modernising our data platform and enhancing the way we work. This creates further opportunities to lever data more effectively, allowing us to better serve our customers and colleagues. As part of this continued development, we are looking to strengthen our Data Engineering capability and maximise the value from the wealth of data held across the organisation.

To support this vision, we are seeking a Head of Data Engineering. This pivotal role will lead an established Data Engineering team, supporting their development while strengthening engineering practices, technical standards and ways of working across the function. The successful candidate will foster a culture of technical excellence, collaboration and continuous improvement.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced data engineering leader to help develop our data engineering community of practice, define data standards across the organisation and be part of the team delivering and evolving PHMG's Data Strategy.

The role: What you will do:

• Lead, manage and develop the Data Engineering team, building capability, resilience and strong ways of working.
• Own PHMG's core data platform, architecture, data warehouse and associated pipelines, ensuring solutions are scalable, reliable, maintainable and cost-effective.
• Own Data Engineering delivery, ensuring work is appropriately designed, prioritised and delivered to agreed standards.
• Establish and embed strong engineering practices across source control, CI/CD, testing, code review, documentation, monitoring and error handling.
• Work closely with the wider Data team to translate the Data Strategy and business priorities into an effective engineering roadmap and delivery plan.
• Work closely with IT, Infrastructure and other engineering teams on architecture, integrations, migrations and platform decisions.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities to improve the performance, reliability and efficiency of PHMG's data capability, including the use of emerging technologies.

This is an exciting role for an experienced data engineering leader who has:

• Demonstrable experience leading, developing and managing Data Engineering teams.
• A strong track record of designing and delivering enterprise-scale data platforms, solutions and architectures.
• A thorough understanding of modern ETL/ELT practices and experience designing scalable, reliable and maintainable data pipelines.
• Advanced working knowledge of SQL and Python.
• Experience working with modern cloud data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Databricks, Redshift or BigQuery. Experience within the Microsoft data ecosystem would be advantageous.
• Strong understanding of modern engineering practices including source control, CI/CD, automated testing, code review, monitoring and observability.
• Strong experience of data modelling for reporting and analytics, using tools and approaches such as dbt or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of data quality, governance, security and data management best practices.
• Experience managing engineering delivery using agile ways of working.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain technical decisions, risks and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Nice to have experience:

• Experience integrating data with operational systems, including reverse ETL into platforms such as Salesforce.
• Understanding of the Data Science / Machine Learning lifecycle and MLOps.
• Experience using Infrastructure as Code approaches and tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation.

Why PHMG Tech:

The IT, Development and Data functions within PHMG continue to evolve how we use technology and data to deliver value to the business. We want to build an open, collaborative culture where people communicate honestly, support each other and take pride in delivering good work.

About PHMG:

Established in 1998, PHMG has grown from a renowned Manchester-based business to the world's leading audio branding agency – working with 36,000 clients in 54 countries across the globe. This expansive client list includes household names of the calibre of Samsung, Audi and Adidas, as well as SMEs in every sector of the global market. We give each of them a stellar production that combines creative copy, world-class voice artistry and an exclusive Brand-Sound-Track™ – strengthening their business identity in the most memorable, emotive way.