Lead Data Engineer

Global; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media and entertainment company is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to develop data-centric products for their Digital Ad Exchange. The role involves building robust data infrastructures, leading a team, and ensuring data governance. Ideal candidates will have strong programming skills, cloud expertise, and a commitment to innovation.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Inclusive culture

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills (ideally Python).
• Expertise in cloud services (ideally AWS and Databricks).
• Experience with large-scale streaming data systems (e.g., Kafka, Spark Streaming).

Responsibilities

• Building and maintaining key data platform capabilities.
• Leading and mentoring a team of Data Engineers.
• Overseeing operational support of data pipelines.

Skills

Programming skills

Cloud services

Data governance

Leadership

Problem-solving

Job description

Accepting applications until: 27 June 2025

Job Description

Lead Data Engineer (DAX)

We are Global

At Global, we think big, work hard, and never stand still. We’re the proud home of the best media and entertainment, driven by our talented and passionate people. Our mission? To make everyone’s day brighter— our Globallers, our audiences, our partners, and our communities. Whether we’re in the studio, building world-class technology, or securing record outdoor advertising partnerships, we make sure we’re doing it as a team.

Your new role: Lead Data Engineer

Global is looking for an experienced Lead Data Engineer to play a pivotal role in developing new data-centric products for Global’s Digital Ad Exchange (DAX).

This position requires a seasoned professional with a deep understanding of data architectures, engineering best practices, data governance, testing strategies, and a proven track record of leading a data engineering team.

The role reports to the Head of Data Engineering and offers a unique opportunity to develop and maintain a robust data infrastructure supporting DAX data-driven initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Design & Implementation (50%)

• Building and maintaining key data platform capabilities, pipelines, and services used across DAX.
• Translating requirements into technical designs and planning the implementation of new features.
• Ensuring technical solutions align with project requirements and industry standards.
• Establishing comprehensive testing strategies, including unit, integration, and end-to-end testing.
• Implementing and enforcing data governance techniques to ensure data accuracy and reliability.

Leadership & Collaboration (20%)

• Leading and mentoring a team of Data Engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and excellence.
• Setting standards and best practices, demonstrating them through your work.
• Organizing team work to balance feature delivery and platform improvements.
• Collaborating with other DAX and Data engineering teams and the wider Data Group.
• Contributing to the design, implementation, and maintenance of the wider data architecture for quality, scalability, and performance.

Operations, Innovation & Optimization (30%)

• Overseeing operational support of pipelines and processes.
• Implementing observability, alerting, and automated recovery mechanisms.
• Ensuring SLAs for data availability and reliability are met, managing incidents appropriately.
• Staying updated on industry trends and researching new tools and techniques.
• Owning and prioritizing a backlog for maintenance and improvements.

What You’ll Love About This Role

• Think Big: Deliver the next evolution of our DAX data platform, underpinning critical features and insights.
• Own It: Lead technical delivery on key use cases.
• Keep it Simple: Enable our platform to handle large, diverse data sets reliably and cost-effectively.
• Better Together: Work with talented engineers, data scientists, and analysts to achieve business outcomes.

What Success Looks Like

In the first few months, you would have:

• Gained a deep understanding of the current platform and its challenges.
• Identified opportunities for resilience and efficiency improvements.
• Introduced best practices for testing and deployment.
• Fostered a culture of accountability and collaboration.
• Partnered with the business to deliver trusted data products.
• Applied the latest tools and techniques for engineering excellence.

What You’ll Need

The ideal candidate will be proactive, innovative, and committed to building reliable, well-tested solutions.

Recommended Skills & Experience:

• Strong programming skills (ideally Python), focusing on testable, maintainable code.
• Expertise in cloud services (ideally AWS and Databricks), emphasizing secure, scalable architectures.
• Experience with large-scale streaming data systems (e.g., Kafka, Spark Streaming), especially on Databricks.
• Proficiency with low-latency time-series databases (e.g., Apache Druid).
• Proven leadership in building and deploying high-availability, distributed data systems.
• Understanding of monitoring, observability, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform), and automation testing frameworks.
• Ability to lead complex projects from design to delivery.
• Excellent communication skills for designing solutions and bridging technical gaps.
• Analytical, data-driven problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Experience coaching and mentoring team members.
• Strategic delegation and risk mitigation skills.
• Understanding of Agile methodologies.

Bonus Points for:

• Relevant certifications.
• Debugging distributed architectures (K8s).
• AdTech domain experience.

Creating a place we all belong at Global

We are dedicated to creating an inclusive culture where every Globaller can belong. We value diversity and strive for an environment where all voices are celebrated. We believe in work-life balance and offer flexible, agile working arrangements. If you need accommodations during recruitment, contact [e-mail].