Lead Data Engineer

National Grid plc; Warwick; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days holiday

8 statutory days

Annual incentive

Generous pension (up to 6% matched)

Job summary

National Grid plc is hiring a Lead Data Engineer to steer data product engineering for Electricity Transmission. You will own data pipelines, set coding standards, and mentor engineers to improve capability while ensuring scalable, secure data solutions across the estate.

The role blends technical leadership with collaboration across stakeholders and a focus on delivering actionable insights and continuous improvement, while working in a hybrid setup from Warwick.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience leading a data engineering team or workstream setting technical direction.
• Experience in stakeholder and user engagement, considering communication requirements and business readiness.
• Experience in data mining and manipulation for large datasets, data profiling and ETL coding.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build and delivery of data products (pipelines) for Electricity Transmission.
• Set and maintain engineering standards: patterns, reviews, testing, CI/CD and deployment.
• Mentor data engineers and grow team capability.
• Own data product implementation and drive data-led action and continuous improvement.
• Shape target architecture with system, solution and data architects.

Skills

Lead data engineering

Data engineering leadership

ETL design and pipelines

SQL

Python

CI/CD for data pipelines

Data governance

Stakeholder engagement

Data profiling

Git

Tools

Snowflake

Microsoft Fabric

Promethium

DataOps.live

Git

Job description

At National Grid, we light up the world by harnessing the unique strengths of our people. Join us as a Lead Data Engineer to be part of a team that's driving forward the energy transition, creating a brighter, more sustainable future for all. Unleash your superpower and bring energy to life.

National Grid is hiring a Lead Data Engineer - This position is based from our Warwick office however we offer flexible hybrid working options.

Job Purpose

This role provides solutions for data challenges that support the electrification of the economy and drive to Net Zero. As the technical lead for data engineering in the team, you will set the engineering direction for our data products, own the standards other engineers build to and grow the capability of the engineers around you.

This role is part of a Product Team in National Grid's Electricity Transmission business supporting engineers, operational teams, planners, performance and regulatory teams by ensuring they have up to date, accessible, easy to understand and easy to use data so they can answer their questions.

We design, build and operate the data products Electricity Transmission runs on, taking accountability for their performance, reliability, security and continuous improvement throughout their lifecycle. These products comprise governed, reusable pipelines and data models that serve BI and KPI reporting, integration between operational applications and the data science, AI and advanced analytics workloads underpinning National Grid's BIG work. You will own the engineering patterns behind those products end to end: ingestion, transformation, modelling, testing, deployment, monitoring and operational support, ensuring solutions are scalable, supportable and repeatable across the estate.

What You'll Do

To work with National Grid Electricity Transmission to deliver actionable data products (pipelines) that drive business performance. Collaborating with key stakeholders, the lead data engineer will work to understand key business challenges, helping to determine the most impactful data and translate this into business requirements.

• Lead the design, build and delivery of data products (pipelines) that support Electricity Transmission's performance ambitions, taking technical accountability for the solutions the team ships.
• Set and maintain the engineering standards for the team — design patterns, coding standards, code review, testing, CI/CD and deployment practice — and hold delivery to them.
• Mentor and develop data engineers across the team and the wider community, growing depth in the skills we're short of and creating a genuine pathway for engineers to progress.
• The lead data engineer will own the implementation of data products (pipelines), consider the business readiness for product implementation, and undertake necessary engagement to ensure the data drives action and is continuously improved.
• Identify opportunities to increase business value, leading by example to create thoughtful and considered products, simplifying transformation, and ensuring alignment to ET's strategic priorities.
• Work with system, solution and data architects to shape target-state architecture — agreeing integration patterns, interface contracts, data modelling approaches and non-functional requirements, and making sure what we build fits the wider ET landscape rather than creating new silos.
• Own our data governance and data quality frameworks and controls, ensure requirements are met during development of products, and that data policies have been considered throughout the development and operation.
• Analyse insight to identify trends, use business context to articulate business performance issues and suggest options to improve business outcomes.
• Manage data product lifecycle, to ensure insight roadmap is managed, content remains relevant, and opportunities are identified for continuous improvement.

About You

• Demonstrable experience leading a data engineering team or workstream setting technical direction, reviewing others' work and being the person the team escalates to.
• Collaborate with Electricity Transmission to identify areas where data products would be beneficial in articulating and understanding business performance.
• Experience in stakeholder and user engagement, considering communication requirements and business readiness.
• Experience in data mining and manipulation for large datasets, experience of data profiling and experience of writing ETL code to present data for data quality rules and analysis.
• Experience in working within or product managing data development environment, acting as a stakeholder contact and working within a team to deliver successful insight, able to understand risk and controls and to track and monitor these.
• Working knowledge of modern data architecture patterns and where each applies — data mesh, data fabric, Lakehouse and domain-oriented ownership models.

Knowledge and experience of query language, data mesh methods and data transformation tools which may include but are not limited to: -

• Data Querying - Structured Query Language (SQL), Python – Essential, C# -ideal
• Database & Fabric – Snowflake, Promethium and Microsoft Fabric
• Version Control – Git, DataOps.live, and experience of CI/CD for data pipelines.

Good to have certifications in

• Experience supporting data science and AI/ML workloads as a consumer of the pipelines you build.
• Additional specialist cloud or devops certifications

What You'll Get

A competitive salary dependent on capability

As well as your base salary, you will receive

• 26 days holiday, plus eight statutory days, an option to buy extra holiday days, and the option to holiday swap up to 3 bank holiday days
• An annual performance incentive
• A generous pension scheme, double matched up to 6% of your salary each month. For every £1 you contribute we’ll put in another £2, so if you put in 6%, we’ll add 12% giving a total of 18% to your pension pot
• Life insurance at 10 times basic salary
• Employer funding towards a portion of your Private Medical Insurance.
• You will also have access to a number of flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

More Information

This role closes at midnight on 9th September 2026; however, we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) is at the heart of energy in the UK. The electricity we provide gets the nation to work, powers schools and brings energy to life. Our energy network connects the nation, so it’s essential that it’s continually evolving, advancing and improving.

In NGET we are passionate about both operating our network safely and providing highly reliable quality of supply for our customers. At the heart of achieving these outcomes is the effective control and operation of our network.

To find out more about us, please follow the link below:

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

Our goal is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives and business need. We are committed to building a workforce so we can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

Please note that in most cases, National Grid is unable to offer sponsorship for employment under the UK points-based immigration system. As such, applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship now or in the future under the UK points-based immigration system. However, in exceptional circumstances where there is a clear and demonstrable need for specialist skills that cannot be sourced from the local labour market, National Grid may consider offering sponsorship. All applications are welcome from candidates who meet these requirements, regardless of race, nationality, or ethnic origin.

National Grid operates in both the UK and US, with a broad portfolio of energy businesses dedicated to providing safe, reliable, and sustainable power.

From electricity and gas transmission to advancing clean energy and modernising grids, our work covers every aspect of the energy system.

Our energy flows through absolutely everything we do

Life here at National Grid is more than just our purpose or our values, it’s everything we put into everything we do. It’s our commitment to diversity and inclusion; how we help our employees learn and grow; and how we partner with and support the communities where we live and work. It’s all this, and so much more.

We leverage our collective strengths to do meaningful BIG work so that we can be at the heart of a fair and affordable energy future.

Your salary is reviewed each year against the market for your role, skills, knowledge and experience.

Incentive

Annual performance plan or bonus (depending on your role) rewards your contribution to our success each year.

Retirement

Generous pension plan with company contributions up to 12%.

Private medical insurance for self and family.