Principal Data Engineer - Contract

Morson Edge (Technology); Manchester; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Morson Edge is partnered with a leading investment management firm seeking an experienced Principal Data Engineer to join the Data Platform team in Manchester. You will shape the organisation’s data platform, delivering scalable Snowflake-based solutions and end-to-end ELT pipelines, while upholding governance and security standards.

You’ll combine hands-on engineering with technical leadership, define data strategy, and collaborate across the business in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• Snowflake experience including warehouses, streams/tasks, Snowpipe, Snowpark and Time Travel.
• End-to-end ELT/data pipeline development with PySpark, Polars or Dask knowledge is valuable.
• Strong Python skills including testing, tooling and engineering practices.
• CI/CD experience, ideally with GitHub Actions, TeamCity or Artifactory.
• Experience in Agile software/data engineering environments and modern engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Designing and delivering scalable data platform solutions using Snowflake and complementary technologies.
• Building and optimising end-to-end ELT/data pipelines for performance and reliability.
• Shaping data strategy, governance standards and best practices across the organisation.
• Supporting adoption of analytics, AI and ML capabilities.
• Ensuring data privacy, security and compliance.
• Collaborating with stakeholders in an Agile environment and driving continuous platform improvement.

Skills

Snowflake

Snowpark

Python

CI/CD

Agile

Tools

Docker

Kafka

Pulsar

Azure Event Hub

Collibra

Apache Iceberg

Apache Arrow

PySpark

Job description

Morson Edge are partnered with a leading investment management firm who are looking for an experienced Principal Data Engineer to join their established Data Platform team and play a key role in shaping the organisation’s strategic data platform.

You’ll combine hands‑on engineering with technical leadership, helping define how data is ingested, transformed, governed and made accessible across the business. Snowflake is at the heart of the platform, alongside a growing ecosystem of modern data technologies.

The Role

You’ll be responsible for:

• Designing and delivering scalable data platform solutions using Snowflake and complementary technologies.
• Building and optimising end‑to‑end ELT/data pipelines, with a focus on performance, reliability and maintainability.
• Helping shape data strategy, engineering standards and best practices around governance and data democratisation.
• Supporting the adoption of advanced analytics, AI and machine learning capabilities.
• Ensuring solutions meet data privacy, security and compliance requirements.
• Working collaboratively within an Agile environment and across the wider business.
• Keeping up with emerging technologies and driving continuous improvement across the platform.

What They're Looking For

Strong experience with:

• Snowflake – Warehouses, Streams/Tasks, Snowpipe, Snowpark, UDFs/Stored Procedures, Time Travel and Cloning.
• Snowpark and end‑to‑end pipeline development. Experience with PySpark, Polars or Dask is also valuable.
• Python, including testing, build tooling and engineering best practices.
• CI/CD, ideally with GitHub Actions, TeamCity or Artifactory.
• Agile software/data engineering environments and modern engineering practices.

Our client is also looking for someone who can work independently, communicate complex technical ideas clearly, collaborate effectively with stakeholders and champion better ways of working.

Nice to Have

Experience with Docker, Java/Scala, Kafka, Pulsar, Azure Event Hub, Collibra, Apache Iceberg, Apache Arrow, PySpark or AI engineering technologies such as Snowflake AI, LangChain, LlamaIndex or Pinecone would be advantageous.

This is a great opportunity to join a collaborative team and have genuine influence over the development of a modern data platform, with exposure across data engineering, analytics and AI.

*Only candidates who live within a reasonable commuting distance from Manchester will be considered*

*Candidates must reside in the UK and have full working rights, sponsorship is NOT available*