Lead Data Engineer

Station; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote within the UK

Ownership of data architecture

Influence on engineering standards

Exposure to cloud data projects

Flexible working environment

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Station is partnering with an established UK organisation to appoint a Lead Data Engineer. This hands-on technical leadership role offers genuine ownership of modern data engineering solutions and the chance to shape technical direction.

You’ll guide data platforms, pipelines and standards while remaining deeply involved in delivery. You’ll work with Databricks, Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, Python and SQL in a production environment, mentoring other engineers and collaborating with stakeholders to

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Data Engineering or a closely related role.
• Proven technical leadership of Data Engineers within a modern data environment.
• Strong SQL skills: writing, optimising and troubleshooting complex queries.
• Strong Python skills for data engineering workflows and production pipelines.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks in a production environment.
• Experience with dbt, Airflow or similar orchestration tools.
• Snowflake expertise alongside Databricks and dbt is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development and optimisation of scalable data pipelines and cloud-based data platforms.
• Take technical ownership of data engineering solutions and contribute to longer-term platform strategy.
• Work hands-on with Databricks and Snowflake to build, optimise and maintain production data solutions.
• Develop and maintain robust data transformation frameworks using dbt.
• Design and manage data orchestration workflows using Apache Airflow, Azure Data Factory or similar.
• Write, optimise and troubleshoot complex SQL, ensuring data solutions are efficient, reliable and scalable.
• Drive improvements in data quality, performance, monitoring and engineering standards.
• Lead data engineering projects from initial requirements through to deployment and ongoing optimisation.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to other Data Engineers.
• Work closely with business and technical stakeholders to translate requirements into effective data solutions.
• Identify opportunities to improve automation, scalability and the overall data engineering approach.

Skills

Data engineering

SQL

Python

Databricks

dbt

Airflow

Snowflake

Leadership

Tools

Databricks

dbt

Airflow

Snowflake

Azure Data Factory

Job description

We're partnering with an established UK organisation to appoint a Lead Data Engineer as part of the continued development of its data engineering capability.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for an experienced Data Engineer who wants genuine ownership of modern data engineering solutions. You'll play a key role in shaping technical direction, improving engineering standards and designing scalable data platforms and pipelines that support reporting, analytics and wider business requirements.

The role is genuinely hands-on, so we're looking for someone with strong commercial production experience across technologies including Databricks, Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, Python and SQL.

You'll work closely with technical and non-technical stakeholders, provide technical leadership and mentoring to other engineers, and remain heavily involved in the technology and delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development and optimisation of scalable data pipelines and cloud-based data platforms
• Take technical ownership of data engineering solutions and contribute to longer-term platform strategy
• Work hands-on with Databricks and Snowflake to build, optimise and maintain production data solutions
• Develop and maintain robust data transformation frameworks using dbt
• Design and manage data orchestration workflows using Apache Airflow, Azure Data Factory or similar
• Write, optimise and troubleshoot complex SQL, ensuring data solutions are efficient, reliable and scalable
• Drive improvements in data quality, performance, monitoring and engineering standards
• Make informed technical and architectural decisions around data platforms, pipelines and tooling
• Lead data engineering projects from initial requirements through to deployment and ongoing optimisation
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to other Data Engineers
• Work closely with business and technical stakeholders to translate requirements into effective data solutions
• Identify opportunities to improve automation, scalability and the overall data engineering approach

Required Experience

• 5+ years' commercial experience within Data Engineering or a closely related role
• Proven experience providing technical leadership to Data Engineers within a modern data environment
• Strong, confident SQL skills, including writing, optimising and troubleshooting complex queries
• Strong Python skills for data engineering and production data pipelines
• Significant hands-on commercial experience with Databricks in a production environment
• Strong hands-on experience with dbt, including developing and maintaining transformation models and frameworks
• Proven experience with data orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow, Azure Data Factory or equivalent
• Strong experience with Snowflake, ideally alongside Databricks and dbt
• Strong understanding of modern ETL/ELT, data modelling, data warehousing and data quality principles
• Experience designing, building and maintaining scalable cloud-based data platforms and pipelines
• Experience contributing to data architecture and technical design decisions
• Strong understanding of Data Engineering best practice, with the ability to establish standards and improve existing approaches
• Experience working across a modern data stack including Databricks, Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, Python and SQL
• Excellent problem-solving, communication and stakeholder management skills

What's on Offer

• Fully remote working within the UK
• Genuine ownership of data engineering architecture and delivery
• Opportunity to influence technical direction and engineering standards
• Exposure to modern cloud technologies and complex data projects
• Flexible working environment
• Excellent opportunities for professional development and progression

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Lead Data Engineer who wants to combine hands-on engineering with genuine technical leadership. You'll have the opportunity to influence architecture, establish best practice and take real ownership of data engineering solutions while remaining close to the technology.