Lead Data Engineer

Kinetech; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Office in East London/Essex

Job summary

Kinetech is seeking a Lead Data Engineer in a hybrid role with East London/Essex offices. The role focuses on maturing the data architectural environment, from Bronze through to Gold, and improving platform capability.

You will be the senior technical escalation point and will guide a small team of engineers. The position emphasises hands-on leadership over people management, with potential to expand leadership responsibilities over time.

Qualifications

• Strong SQL performance tuning skills.
• Experience with Fabric and Synapse design/architecture.
• Experience modernising data platforms Bronze to Gold.
• Governance and data quality focus in large environments.
• Production-grade data solutions delivery experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and optimise scalable data pipelines with Microsoft Fabric.
• Refine pipelines and architecture to meet best practices.
• Lead transition of platform from Bronze to Gold standard.
• Develop and tune complex SQL queries and data models.
• Support Power BI refreshes and data issue troubleshooting.
• Own data quality, governance, and platform reliability.
• Act as senior technical escalation point for Data Engineers.
• Lead, mentor, and support a small team of 3 engineers.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to improve data quality.
• Work with multiple data sources feeding into a Lakehouse.

Skills

SQL

Fabric

Synapse

Lakehouse

Data governance

Stakeholder engagement

Leadership

CI/CD

Education

Microsoft DP-600

Microsoft DP-900

Tools

Power BI

Azure Data Factory

Job description

Hybrid Working - 2-4 day per month in the office (East London / Essex)

Salary to £75k

A Lead Data Engineer is required for a transformational role. With Fabric already in place, the focus is now on maturing the data architectural environment from Bronze through to Gold over the next 12-18 months - improving architecture, data quality, and overall platform capability.

This is a hands-on leadership role, acting as the senior technical escalation point while helping shape best practice, refine existing pipelines, and drive data modernisation across a complex data landscape. This is more of a Technical Leadership than people Leadership role, though the director would be happy for someone inclined towards both or that wants to add on the people in time.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build and optimise scalable data pipelines within Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Data Engineering, Data Warehouse, Data Integration)
• Refine and enhance existing pipelines and architecture to align with best practice
• Lead the transition of the platform from Bronze to Gold standard
• Develop and fine-tune complex SQL queries, transformations, and data models
• Support and troubleshoot data issues impacting reporting (e.g. Power BI refresh failures)
• Take ownership of data quality, governance, and platform reliability
• Act as the technical escalation point for a team of Data Engineers
• Lead, mentor, and support a small team (3 engineers) - negotiable if you'd prefer to remain technically oriented.
• Work across multiple data sources (enterprise systems and bespoke applications) feeding into a Lakehouse
• Engage stakeholders across the business to improve data quality and consistency

Required Experience

• Strong hands-on SQL expertise, including performance tuning
• Proven experience with Microsoft Fabric and Synapse (design, architecture, implementation)
• Experience working with Lakehouse architecture and multiple data sources
• Demonstrable experience modernising data platforms (e.g. Bronze ? Gold maturity) or consolidating data into a central platform
• Strong understanding of data engineering principles, governance, and data quality
• Experience delivering and supporting production-grade data solutions
• Ability to act as a senior technical escalation point and lead delivery
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, particularly around data quality challenges
• Microsoft certifications (e.g. DP-600, DP-900)
• Experience managing or mentoring engineers (or readiness to step into leadership
• Exposure to DevOps / CI-CD practices within data engineering
• Experience in complex or enterprise environments