Lead Data Engineer

NewDay; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

NewDay is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to guide a pod of Data Engineers in building reliable, scalable data products and platforms that enable smarter decision-making. You will blend hands-on coding with people leadership, shaping data architecture, modelling, ETL/ELT, and modern cloud pipelines while advancing AI and automation across the team.

You’ll set high standards for quality, testing and observability and collaborate with technology and business to translate complex needs into practical

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a data engineering team
• Hands-on design and development of data pipelines using dbt, Python and SQL
• Experience with cloud data platforms (AWS, Snowflake) and CI/CD practices

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a pod of Data Engineers to deliver high-quality data solutions
• Shape the technical direction for data including modeling, warehousing, ETL/ELT
• Remain hands-on designing and building complex data pipelines
• Champion testing, observability and automation to improve data product reliability
• Collaborate with technology and business teams to translate requirements into scalable data solutions

Skills

dbt

Python

SQL

Data modelling

ETL/ELT

Data warehousing

Leadership

AI & automation

Tools

AWS

Snowflake

Spark

Airflow

Git

GitHub

CI/CD

Job description

As a Lead Data Engineer, you'll lead a pod of Data Engineers to build reliable, scalable data products and platforms that continue to help NewDay make better decisions and get more value from our data.

This is a hands-on management role where you'll combine technical expertise with people leadership. You'll role-model our engineering approach, standards for quality and support your team to solve complex data challenges at scale. We also want to keep evolving how we use AI and automation within data engineering, giving you the opportunity to bring your ideas and curiosity to help us explore smarter, more efficient ways of working.

How you'll contribute

• You'll lead and develop a pod of Data Engineers, creating an environment where people can learn, collaborate and deliver high-quality engineering.
• You'll shape the technical direction for data within your area, providing guidance across data modelling, data warehousing, ETL/ELT and scalable data platforms.
• You'll remain hands-on, designing and developing complex data pipelines and solutions using dbt, Python, SQL and modern cloud data technologies.
• You'll champion engineering quality, improving testing, data quality, observability and automation to make our data products more reliable and easier to operate.
• You'll collaborate across technology and the business, turning complex requirements into practical data solutions and exploring how AI and emerging technologies could improve the way your team engineers and delivers.

We're looking for these essential skills

• Hands-on experience using dbt to design, build and improve data transformations within a complex data environment.
• Engineering experience using Python and SQL, with the ability to solve complex data problems at scale.
• The ability to design and guide modern data engineering solutions, with knowledge of data modelling, ETL/ELT, data warehousing and scalable data pipelines.
• The ability to lead and develop Data Engineers, combining hands-on technical contribution with coaching, technical direction and ownership of delivery.
• An interest in AI and automation, with the technical curiosity to explore how emerging technologies could improve engineering quality, productivity and ways of working.

It's a plus if you also have these skills

• Experience using AWS or another major cloud platform. Our environment includes EMR, Athena, Lambda, S3, Glue and Step Functions, but we're open to transferable experience solving similar problems.
• Experience with Snowflake, Spark, Scala or Airflow, or transferable experience with comparable technologies and solving similar data engineering challenges.
• Experience with Git, GitHub and CI/CD practices, including tools such as GitHub Actions.
• Knowledge of real-time data processing, data governance, data quality or observability.
• Experience using AI-enabled engineering tools or automation to improve data engineering productivity, quality or reliability.

We know great candidates don't always meet every requirement. If you have strong data engineering foundations, hands-on DBT experience and experience solving complex problems at scale, we'd encourage you to apply even if you haven't worked with every technology listed above.

Externally this job title might also be known as Data Engineering Lead, Data Platform Lead or Principal Data Engineer.

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#LI-TM1

At NewDay, we value all types of diversity. We're an equal opportunity employer and believe that our differences create a vibrant, authentic working culture. We want all our colleagues to feel able to bring their whole selves to work. We don't discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics or identities. We make sure that every job is crafted to be inclusive and that people with disabilities or caring responsibilities can take part in the application and interview process.

Tell us if you need accommodations: We'll put reasonable adjustments in place to support you.

We work with Textio to make our job design and hiring inclusive.

Permanent