Lead Data Engineer

Made Tech; Manchester; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent technology consultancy in Manchester is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to enhance public sector organizations' data capabilities. You will define effective data strategies, establish trust in data-driven practices, and contribute to team growth, all while leveraging cloud technologies. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience with data platforms, agile practices, and a strong DevOps background. This role offers flexible working conditions and a supportive environment.

Benefits

30 days Holiday

Flexible Parental Leave

Remote Working

Paid counselling services

Pension – 7% employer matched

Smart Tech scheme

Cycle-to-work scheme

Optional social and wellbeing events

Qualifications

• Skilled Data Engineer who has delivered data platforms.
• Ability to create reusable libraries across multiple data pipelines.
• Experience with CI/CD processes using Docker.

Responsibilities

• Define and shape data strategies in government.
• Establish trust as a data advisor using public cloud services.
• Assist in recruitment efforts and take on line-management responsibilities.

Skills

Proficiency in Git

Experience in IaC

Handling data types with Apache Spark

Understanding of modern data system design

Creating data pipelines in the cloud

Ability to document and present data systems

Knowledge of SOLID principles

Agile practices like Scrum

DevOps approach in data projects

Data transformation processes at scale

Job description

About the Role

As a Lead Data Engineer or architect at Made Tech, you'll play a pivotal role in helping public sector organisations become truly data‑lead, by equipping them with robust data platforms. You'll also join a data team on its mission to get data knowledge and skills out of silos and embed them into delivery teams. You'll also help implement efficient data pipelines & storage.

Responsibilities

• Define, shape and perfect data strategies in central and local government.
• Help public sector teams understand the value of their data, and make the most of it.
• Establish yourself as a trusted advisor in data‑driven approaches using public cloud services like AWS, Azure and GCP.
• As employee growth is a huge focus here, we would expect you to contribute to our recruitment efforts and take on line‑management responsibilities.

Culture & Community

Like many organisations, we use Slack to foster a sense of community and connection. We also have 10+ Slack channels dedicated to specific communities, allies, and identities, as well as dedicated learning spaces called communities of practice (COPs). If you'd like to speak to someone from one of these groups about their experience as an employee, please let a member of the Made Tech talent team know.

Benefits

• 30 days Holiday
• Flexible Parental Leave
• Remote Working – part‑time remote working for all staff
• Paid counselling – financial and legal advice
• Pension – 7% employer matched
• Smart Tech scheme, Cycle‑to‑work scheme, individual benefits allowance
• Optional social and wellbeing calendar of events

Security Clearance

An increasing number of our customers are specifying a minimum of SC (security check) clearance in order to work on their projects. As a result, we're looking for all successful candidates for this role to have eligibility. Eligibility for SC requires five years’ UK residency and five years’ employment history (or back to full‑time education). Ideally, no more than 30 consecutive days spent outside the UK within the last five years. Please note that if at any point during the interview process it is apparent that you may not be eligible for SC, we won't be able to progress your application and we will contact you to let you know why.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Git (incl. GitHub Actions) and ability to explain different branch strategies.
• Strong experience in IaC and guidance on deploying infrastructure into different environments.
• Knowledge of handling and transforming various data types (JSON, CSV, etc) with Apache Spark, Databricks or Hadoop.
• Good understanding of possible architectures involved in modern data system design (Data Warehouse, Data Lakes, Data Meshes).
• Ability to create data pipelines on a cloud environment and integrate error handling within these pipelines.
• Understanding of how to create reusable libraries to encourage uniformity across multiple data pipelines.
• Ability to document and present end‑to‑end diagrams to explain a data processing system on a cloud environment.
• Some knowledge of how to present diagrams (C4, UML, etc.).
• Enthusiasm for learning and self‑development.
• Experience of working on agile delivery‑lead projects and applying agile practices such as Scrum, XP, Kanban.
• Can own the cloud infrastructure underpinning data systems through a DevOps approach.
• Design and implement efficient data transformation processes at scale, both in batch and streaming use cases.
• Skilled Data Engineer who has delivered data platforms.
• Knowledge of SOLID, DRY and TDD principles and how to practically implement these into a project.
• Demonstrate a commercial mindset when on projects to grow accounts organically with senior stakeholders.
• Experience to improve resilience by checking for software vulnerabilities and implementing appropriate testing strategies.
• Skilled at offering guidance on how to implement a robust DevOps approach in a data project.
• Comfortable discussing tools needed such as DataOps in areas such as orchestration, data integration and data analytics.

Desirable Experience

• Working at a technology consultancy.
• Working with Docker and virtual environments as part of the development and CI/CD process.
• Working with senior stakeholders to gather requirements and keep them engaged.
• Experience in working with a team of engineers using a variety of techniques such as pair programming or mob programming.
• Working with data scientists to productionise advanced data deliverables, such as machine learning models.
• Working knowledge of statistics.
• Working with multidisciplinary digital and technology teams.
• Working within the public sector.
• Working with data scientists to productionise advanced data deliverables, such as machine learning models.

Hiring Process

Our hiring process is designed to be thorough, transparent, and supportive, guiding candidates through each step. The exact process may vary slightly depending on the role but these are the typical steps candidates can expect. We'll keep you updated throughout the process and provide helpful feedback at each stage. No matter the outcome, we make sure the feedback is useful and supportive, so you feel informed and can learn from the experience. Our talent team will review all applications, and while we may use AI to help speed up the process, a real human will always make the final decisions. Once reviewed, shortlisted applicants will be invited to a screening. This is a 25‑30 minute call with someone in our talent team who is hiring for the role. Once screenings have taken place, the hiring manager will review the shortlist and invite to interviews. You may then be invited to an initial virtual interview, which is usually around 45‑60 minutes. If you progress, you'll be invited to a final stage interview, usually with two members of the team.