Principal Data Engineer, Secure Platform & DataOps Lead

Matchtech; England; Hybrid; GBP 119,925 - 166,050; Full time

Job summary

Matchtech is seeking a Principal Data Engineer for the Secure Digital Platform (SDP) Data and Integration. The role is based in Reading with hybrid working arrangements and requires active SC clearance. Initial contract until February 2027 with strong extension potential on a long-term programme.

You will design and maintain scalable, secure data architectures, lead enterprise pipelines, enforce data standards, and drive DataOps within a defence-focused environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Software Eng, Data Eng or related field.
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale data solutions.
• Extensive experience with cloud data platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP).
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, Spark; experience with ETL/ELT and data pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain scalable, secure data architectures and platforms.
• Lead development of enterprise data pipelines and data products.
• Establish and enforce data engineering standards and best practices.
• Implement DataOps and DevOps to improve deployment efficiency and reliability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on data requirements and solutions.
• Ensure data quality, lineage, security and compliance across assets.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to data teams.
• Support cloud migration and data platform modernization.

Skills

SQL

Python

Spark

Data modeling

Data warehousing

Data governance

CI/CD

DataOps

DevOps

Cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP)

Data quality

ETL/ELT

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / related

Tools

Azure

AWS

Google Cloud

SQL tooling

Job description

Matchtech is seeking a Principal Data Engineer for the Secure Digital Platform (SDP) Data and Integration. The role is based in Reading with hybrid working arrangements and requires active SC clearance. Initial contract until February 2027 with strong extension potential on a long-term programme.

You will design and maintain scalable, secure data architectures, lead enterprise pipelines, enforce data standards, and drive DataOps within a defence-focused environment.