Lead Data Engineer or Head of Data Engineering (Founding Role)

Senzo; England; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A venture-backed SaaS company is looking for a Lead Data Engineer or Head of Data Engineering in a founding role. This senior position involves shaping the data foundation and building scalable systems for a rapidly growing platform. The ideal candidate will have deep experience in high-scale B2B environments, particularly in security or SaaS. The role includes designing data pipelines and providing technical leadership while working closely with the founding team. Compensation ranges from £90k to £120k, with equity available for senior candidates.

Qualifications

• Experience at Principal or Head of Data Engineering level within B2B platforms.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and capable of taking ownership.
• Proven capability to influence strategic direction.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and lead the data engineering function as the founding data hire.
• Design scalable ingestion, transformation, storage, and enrichment pipelines.
• Provide technical leadership across backend and data layers.

Skills

Deep experience working as a Principal Data Engineer

Background in high scale B2B platforms

Strong Python experience

Cloud experience, ideally Azure

Experience designing and scaling data pipelines

Proactive communication skills

Job description

Lead Data Engineer or Head of Data Engineering (Founding Role)

A venture backed SaaS company in the AI space is hiring their Founding Head / Lead Data engineer. This is a senior role where you will shape the data foundation of the entire platform and build for scale from day one.

Although they're a startup, they are incubated by a successful VC firm, and are gathering strong momentum with enterprise level customers. Equity available for senior applicants who can influence the strategic direction.

You will work closely with the founding team to design and implement data systems that support rapid growth. The product ingests large volumes of log and event data, so experience working with high throughput pipelines, distributed systems, and modern data tooling is essential.

This role suits someone who has operated at Principal or Head of Data Engineering level within B2B platforms, ideally in security, observability, or high scale SaaS. You should be confident making architectural decisions while remaining hands on.

You will be the person who sees pitfalls before they happen and sets the direction for the next twelve to twenty four months of data development.

What you will be doing

• Design, build and leading the data engineering function as the founding data hire
• Designing scalable ingestion, transformation, storage, and enrichment pipelines
• Working with log and event data at scale
• Defining patterns and systems that enable future ML driven components
• Providing technical leadership across backend and data layers
• Working closely with founders and early customers to shape the product

Skills and experience

• Deep experience working as a Principal Data Engineer, Lead Data Engineer, or Head of Data Engineering
• Background in high scale B2B platforms, ideally in security, or high scale SaaS
• Strong Python and cloud experience, ideally Azure (must be adaptable around different code)
• Proven experience designing and scaling data pipelines and storage systems (strategic eye is key here
• Comfortable with ambiguity and capable of taking ownership from day one
• Proactive communicator who can flag limitations early and propose solutions

Location

Hybrid London, two days per week in the office

Compensation

£90k to £120k base depending on level and experience.

Equity available for a senior individual who can influence strategic direction.

If you would like to explore this, please reach out directly.

Applicants must be in the UK with the correct passport or visa in place. No sponsorship available.