Principal Data Engineer

Gravitas Group; West Yorkshire; Remote; GBP 76,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

Gravitas Group is recruiting a Principal Data Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and operation of enterprise-scale, cloud-native data platforms on AWS. You will ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and cost-efficient while collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver resilient data solutions.

The role demands extensive AWS expertise, strong Python development, and proficiency with IaC/CI-CD practices to drive governance, security, and operational excellence across complex

Qualifications

• Experience designing and operating cloud-native data platforms on AWS.
• Proficient in Python for data engineering and testing.
• Experience with IaC and CI/CD automation.
• Strong knowledge of AWS services (Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, Redshift, Glue, etc.).
• Experience delivering production-grade platforms with governance and security.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and operate enterprise-scale cloud-native data platforms on AWS.
• Deliver secure, scalable serverless architectures on AWS.
• Engineer data ingestion, processing, storage and consumption pipelines.
• Lead the technical design and delivery of complex data projects.
• Produce detailed Low-Level Designs aligned with High-Level Designs from Solution Architects.
• Collaborate with security, engineering, and stakeholder teams to deliver solutions.
• Provision and manage AWS environments using Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
• Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines supporting automated deployment and testing.
• Implement AWS security best practices including IAM, encryption, secrets management, monitoring and auditing.
• Support operational resilience, governance, and compliance through platform design.
• Drive cloud cost optimisation and operational efficiency.

Skills

AWS data platforms

Serverless architectures

Python

IaC/CI-CD

Cloud security

Distributed systems

Data engineering

Cost optimisation

Low-level design

Stakeholder collaboration

Tools

Terraform

CloudFormation

Job description

Principal Data Engineer

Contract Summary Box:

Location: Remote
Contract Length: 3 months
Day Rate / Pay: 475.0
IR35 Status: Outside IR35
Start Date: 21/10/2026

The Principal Data Engineer role focuses on designing, delivering, and operating large-scale cloud-native data platforms and enterprise AWS solutions. This position involves leading complex technical initiatives, translating business needs into scalable and secure solutions within a cloud environment.

Key Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience designing, delivering and operating cloud-native data platforms and AWS solutions
• Deep expertise across AWS services including Lambda, Step Functions, DynamoDB, S3, EventBridge, SNS, SQS, API Gateway, IAM, Redshift, Glue, Lake Formation and CloudWatch
• Experience designing serverless applications, APIs, data pipelines and analytics platforms on AWS
• Strong understanding of event-driven architectures, distributed systems and cloud-native application development
• Advanced Python with extensive experience supporting cloud-native solutions supported by testing, CI/CD, and software engineering practices
• Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and CI/CD automation
• Strong understanding of cloud security, governance and operational best practices
• Experience delivering highly available, resilient and production-ready platforms with monitoring, governance and operational support

Nice to Have

• Terraform or CloudFormation experience
• Experience with enterprise-scale data platforms and analytics solutions
• Knowledge of observability, monitoring and cloud cost optimisation
• Experience working in regulated or highly governed environments

Role Overview

The Principal Data Engineer leads the design, deployment, and operation of enterprise-scale, cloud-native data platforms on AWS, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and cost-effective. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, the role ensures the delivery of resilient and operational data solutions that meet business and technical standards. The engineer will produce detailed low-level designs and guide the technical delivery across complex initiatives, supporting operational resilience, security, and governance.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build and operate enterprise-scale cloud-native data platforms and AWS solutions
• Deliver secure, scalable, resilient serverless architectures on AWS
• Engineer data ingestion, processing, storage and consumption platforms
• Lead the technical design and delivery of complex data and cloud projects
• Produce detailed Low-Level Designs aligned with High-Level Designs from Solution Architects
• Collaborate with security, engineering, and stakeholder teams to deliver solutions
• Provision and manage AWS environments using Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines supporting automated deployment and testing
• Implement AWS security best practices including IAM, encryption, secrets management, monitoring and auditing
• Support operational resilience, governance, and compliance through platform design
• Drive cloud cost optimisation and operational efficiency