Lead Data Engineer

Lloyds Banking Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 15%

Annual bonus

Share schemes

Discounted shopping

30 days holiday + bank holidays

Wellbeing initiatives & parental leave

Job summary

Lloyds Banking Group is seeking a Lead Data Engineer to shape and lead the lab's data engineering capability within the Security Data and AI Lab. This senior role combines technical leadership with strategic influence across the enterprise, delivering data foundations for AI, machine learning and analytics.

You will mentor engineers, own data pipelines and drive secure-by-design practices, working in a hybrid model across multiple office sites.

Qualifications

• Must have extensive experience leading technical delivery and mentoring engineers.
• Strong background in designing and operating scalable data platforms and pipelines.
• Experience with cloud-native data platforms across major cloud providers.
• Deep understanding of data modelling, data quality, metadata, lineage and governance.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the data engineering strategy and roadmap.
• Own scalable data pipelines for AI, ML and analytics.
• Mentor engineers and build a high-performing engineering culture.
• Partner with Security, Cloud, Architecture and Product teams.

Skills

Technical leadership

Data platform design

Data pipelines

Cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP)

Data modelling & governance

CI/CD & observability

Cross-team collaboration

Job description

LOCATION: Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol

HOURS: Full time (35 hours)

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy.

What you'll be doing… At Lloyds Banking Group, we are transforming how we protect our customers, colleagues and services in an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. The Security Data and AI lab within the Chief Security Office is at the forefront of this transformation - engineering data platforms and AI-driven capabilities that enable intelligent, proactive defence.

We're looking for a Lead Data Engineer to shape and lead the lab's data engineering capability. This is a senior role combining deep technical expertise with leadership, influencing direction and delivering high-impact outcomes across a complex enterprise environment. You'll operate at the intersection of data engineering, security and AI, defining and driving the data engineering strategy and roadmap, owning scalable data pipelines, embedding secure-by-design principles, and enabling production-grade data foundations for AI, machine learning and advanced analytics. You'll also partner across Security, Cloud, Architecture and Product teams while mentoring engineers and building a high-performing engineering culture.

Why Join us?

If you think all banks are the same, you're wrong. We're a pioneering, fast-changing business that's shaping finance as a force for good. If you're after a role where you can have an impact and do the best work of your career, you've just found it

What we're looking for?

• Proven experience leading technical delivery and mentoring engineers in a senior or lead capacity
• Strong experience designing, building and operating scalable data platforms and pipelines in complex environments
• Experience with cloud-native data platforms across Azure, AWS, GCP or similar enterprise environments
• Deep understanding of data modelling, data quality, metadata, lineage and governance principles
• Ability to make pragmatic, risk-aware technical decisions balancing resilience, pace and long-term maintainability
• Experience embedding engineering best practices such as CI/CD, automated testing, observability and version control
• Strong collaboration skills, working across engineering, security, data science and product teams

And it would be great if you had any of the following...

• Exposure to MLOps or SMLOps tooling and model lifecycle management
• Experience supporting AI/ML pipelines, feature engineering or analytics platforms
• Knowledge of AI governance and secure adoption of generative or agentic AI
• Experience working in security-focused or regulated environments
• Familiarity with event-driven or streaming data architectures

This is a place for you…

Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion, supporting our customers, colleagues and communities. We are committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop. We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and launch a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative.

We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role and have a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition, through the Disability Confident Scheme.

We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers - just let us know what you need.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes…

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual bonus award, subject to Group performance
• Share schemes including free shares
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• 30 days' holiday, with bank holidays on top
• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies