Lead Data & AI Engineer

Slingco Ltd; Rawtenstall; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary Dependent on Experience

30 days' annual leave including Bank H

Option to buy 5 additional holidays

Your birthday off

Hybrid working options

Enhanced employer pension contribution

Life assurance cover x4 salary

Gym membership

Cycle to work scheme

Employee loan scheme

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Job summary

Slingco Ltd, a 40-year+ tool supplier, is hiring a lead data engineer to build our initial group data platform on Microsoft Fabric. You will consolidate data from Business Central, CRM, and HR, replacing fragmented reporting to enable reliable decision-making across the global business.

This hands-on role is the first senior data hire; you will own architecture, requirements, and future team planning while developing conversational AI tools and a self-service BI layer for approved data access.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and building a data platform from scratch with architectural oversight.
• Strong SQL and Python or PySpark, with practical ELT pipelines and CI/CD.
• Experience implementing data governance and self-service BI including ownership, quality standards, training and user adoption.
• Microsoft Fabric experience, or transferable Azure Synapse or Databricks Lakehouse experience, with medallion architecture knowledge.
• Power BI semantic modelling and DAX skills to manage shared datasets and business measures.
• Ability to work as the sole senior data specialist, gathering requirements from senior stakeholders and explaining priorities clearly.

Responsibilities

• Own data requirements gathering across the group and prioritise the backlog.
• Design, build and run the Microsoft Fabric platform including pipelines and costs.
• Integrate Business Central, CRM, HR and other systems across global entities.
• Maintain a single prioritised backlog reflecting delivery capacity.
• Implement source control, CI/CD, automated tests, monitoring and documentation standards.
• Set data governance, security and quality standards proportionate to data maturity.
• Define KPI definitions and build certified Power BI semantic models for reporting.
• Establish data ownership, security, access controls, and masking of sensitive data.
• Deliver reporting from the governed layer and define the KPI set behind it.
• Assist business users in data analysis with appropriate training and access.
• Prepare semantic models for AI use with clear definitions and relationships.
• Build secure data access for AI agents and conversational tools with permissions.
• Collaborate with the AI & Automation Partner as the technical counterpart.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Stakeholder management

Organization

Independent working

Attention to detail

Tools

Microsoft Fabric

Azure Synapse

Databricks Lakehouse

Power BI

DAX

Python

PySpark

Source control

CI/CD

Job description

COMPANY BACKGROUND:

SLINGCO is an award-winning supplier of high-quality tools and accessories for the installation and handling of cable, with over 40 years of industry heritage. We serve customers in over 70 countries worldwide from our head office in Lancashire, UK, and bases in Georgia, USA, and Bengaluru, India.

Our products are used in safety critical applications for a wide range of markets. With sectors including oil & gas, civil engineering, aerospace, transport, utilities, marine/offshore and the military - there's no room for error. That's why we do everything with the utmost care and precision.

We design and manufacture to the highest specifications and test to destruction. If our products don't meet and exceed the most stringent national and international standards, they're not good enough for our customers.

At Slingco, our goal is to create innovative high-quality products that our customers can depend on, whilst providing a positive experience for our customers and our employees. Every aspect of our work, culture and commitment to innovation is driven by our core values.

BENEFITS:

• Salary Dependent on Experience
• 30 days' annual leave including Bank Holidays, rising to 35 with service
• Option to buy 5 additional holidays
• Your birthday off
• Hybrid working options
• Enhanced employer pension contribution
• Life assurance cover x4 salary
• Gym membership
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee loan scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

POSITION SUMMARY:

We are looking for an experienced lead data engineer to build our first group data platform on Microsoft Fabric. The aim is to bring together data from our business systems, replace fragmented reporting and give colleagues reliable information they can use to make decisions.

This is a hands‑on role and our first senior data hire. There is no dedicated data team in place yet, so you will take responsibility for the architecture and the build. You will work directly with senior leaders and business teams to agree requirements and priorities, establish how data is managed and help plan the future team. The role also includes developing conversational AI tools and a self‑service BI layer that let colleagues ask questions of approved business data.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own data requirements gathering across the group and prioritize a single visible backlog against capacity
• Design, build and run the Microsoft Fabric platform, including pipelines, capacity, running costs and reliability
• Integrate Business Central, CRM, HR and all other operational systems across global business entities
• Gather business requirements and maintain a single prioritised backlog that reflects delivery capacity
• Put source control, CI/CD, automated testing, monitoring and alerting in place. Document the standards and ways of working for the future team
• Set pragmatic data governance, security and quality standards - proportionate to a business moving from low data maturity
• Agree common KPI definitions with business owners and build certified Power BI semantic models to support executive and operational reporting
• Set practical standards for data ownership, quality and security, including access controls, row‑level security, classification and masking of sensitive data
• Deliver executive and operational reporting from the governed layer, and define the standardized KPI set behind it
• Assist key business users in analysing data from approved datasets, with appropriate training, access and support
• Prepare semantic models for AI use, with clear definitions, relationships and rules for interpreting the data
• Build secure ways for AI agents and conversational tools to retrieve and query approved data, enforcing each user's access permissions
• Act as technical counterpart to the AI & Automation Partner, ensuring agents and conversational AI consume governed data

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

• Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision‑making skills
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex information clearly to technical and non‑technical colleagues
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with senior leaders and business teams
• Highly organised, with the ability to manage competing priorities, gather requirements and work within agreed capacity
• Able to work independently, take ownership and use initiative within a developing data environment
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to data quality, security, accuracy and continuous improvement

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS:

Essential

• Experience designing and building a data platform from scratch, with responsibility for architecture and delivery in a business with limited existing data capability
• Strong SQL and Python or PySpark skills, with practical experience of ELT pipelines, dimensional modelling, source control and CI/CD
• Experience putting data governance and self‑service BI into practice, including ownership, quality standards, training and user adoption
• Microsoft Fabric experience, or transferable Azure Synapse or Databricks Lakehouse experience, including an understanding of medallion architecture
• Strong Power BI semantic modelling and DAX skills, sufficient to take responsibility for shared datasets and business measures
• Ability to work as the sole senior data specialist, gather requirements from senior stakeholders, resolve conflicting definitions and explain priorities and technical decisions clearly

Desirable

• Experience connecting AI tools to governed business data, such as Copilot, natural‑language querying or agent‑based retrieval, and testing the accuracy of their answers
• Experience with Business Central or a comparable ERP, particularly in manufacturing or distribution
• Multi‑entity and multi‑currency group reporting
• Relevant Microsoft Azure or Fabric certifications