Principal Data Engineer (GCP)

VIQU IT; Preston; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Referral bonus

Job summary

VIQU IT seeks a Principal Data Engineer to lead data engineering within a 100% cloud-based platform, focusing on technical leadership and platform design in Google Cloud.

You will mentor engineers, define governance for data projects and drive CI/CD, automation and best practices across the team.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Data Engineering, in lead/principal roles.
• Cloud-native data platform experience required.
• Hands-on Google Cloud Platform preferred; AWS/Azure considered.
• Experience with Terraform, Docker and dbt.
• Strong SQL and Python skills; data governance and SDLC/Agile awareness.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to data engineers.
• Define how data engineering projects are approached, delivered and governed.
• Work with architects to design and evolve the cloud data platform.
• Ensure robust, scalable and compliant data pipelines across the platform.
• Lead best practices around data ingestion, transformation, quality, security and monitoring.
• Drive automation, CI/CD adoption and continuous improvement.

Skills

Cloud data platform

GCP

Terraform

Docker

dbt

SQL

Python

Data governance

Agile / Scrum

Mentoring

Tools

Terraform

Docker

dbt

Job description

Principal Data Engineer (GCP)

Northwest - Hybrid

Up to £100,000

VIQU are seeking a Principal Data Engineer to join a leading social enterprise that reinvests profits to create thriving, sustainable communities. Following a full transition to a 100% cloud-based data platform, the Principal Data Engineer will play a key part in shaping and leading the organisation's data engineering capability, with a strong focus on technical leadership, platform design and mentoring engineers within a Google Cloud environment.

Key Responsibilities of the Principal Data Engineer

• Provide technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to data engineers
• Define how data engineering projects are approached, delivered and governed
• Work closely with architects to design and evolve the cloud data platform
• Ensure robust, scalable and compliant data pipelines across the platform
• Lead best practices around data ingestion, transformation, quality, security and monitoring
• Drive automation, CI/CD adoption and continuous improvement
• Challenge technical decisions and raise engineering standards across the team

Key Requirements of the Principal Data Engineer

• Extensive experience in Data Engineering, with time spent in a Lead or Principal role
• Strong background working in a cloud-native data platform
• Hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform is highly preferred, with consideration for AWS or Azure alongside some GCP
• Experience with Terraform, Docker and dbt
• Strong expertise in Data Lake / Data Warehouse solutions
• Advanced SQL and Python skills
• Proven experience optimising complex queries
• Strong understanding of Data Governance, including lineage, data legislation and PII
• Experience working within Agile / Scrum and the SDLC
• Willingness to undergo a DBS check

We'll thank you with up to £1,000 if your referral is successful (terms apply).

Principal Data Engineer (GCP)

Northwest - Hybrid

Up to £100,000