Principal Engineer, BCG Expand, London

Boston Consulting Group; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm in the United Kingdom is looking for a Principal Engineer to lead the design and implementation of data infrastructure that supports analytics and data science. The ideal candidate will have strong programming skills in Python, SQL, or Java, alongside extensive experience with cloud platforms like AWS or Azure. The role requires exceptional collaboration with cross-functional teams and a focus on secure data management practices. This position offers a dynamic working environment with opportunities for growth and advancement.

Benefits

Inclusive work environment

Opportunities for professional growth

Collaborative team culture

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in launching and scaling technical products.
• Strong programming skills in Python, SQL, or Java.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Strong understanding of data security and compliance best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of the data infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely with senior stakeholders to understand data needs.
• Design secure and efficient data ingestion frameworks.
• Contribute to the strategy and vision for data products.
• Work with data scientists to ensure datasets are model-ready.

Skills

Python

SQL

Java

Data Security

Stakeholder Management

Team Leadership

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Spark

Hadoop

PostgreSQL

Job description

We're looking for a highly skilled Principal Engineer with a passion for data, cloud technologies, and building robust, scalable solutions - who also brings strategic product thinking and cross-functional leadership. In this role, you'll not only lead the design and implementation of the data infrastructure that powers advanced analytics and data science across our platforms, but also contribute to the strategic direction, roadmap, and execution of data products in collaboration with senior stakeholders. Architect & Build Scalable Data Solutions

• Collaborate closely with senior product stakeholders to understand data needs and architect end-to-end ingestion pipelines
• Design and build robust ETL/ELT processes and data architectures using modern tools and techniques
• Lead database design, data modelling, and integration strategies to support analytics at scale

Drive Data Integration & Management

• Design and implement secure, scalable, and efficient data ingestion frameworks across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data
• Partner with product owners and engineers to develop data exchange protocols, ensuring best practices in data governance and security
• Create and manage hybrid cloud data environments and support data pipelines for big data platforms

Product Strategy & Execution

• Contribute to the strategy and vision for our data products, helping to define and evolve product roadmaps from launch through scale
• Oversee day-to-day execution of product initiatives across cross-functional teams
• Lead by example to help foster a high‑performing, collaborative, and agile culture
• Proactively identify and mitigate business, operational, and governance risks
• Provide clear, data-driven updates on product performance and technical milestones to stakeholders

Collaborate Across Disciplines

• Work together with data scientists to understand analytical needs and curate high‑quality data sets
• Map data fields to business hypotheses, wrangle data, and ensure datasets are model‑ready
• Contribute to a cross‑functional engineering culture with a focus on quality, automation, and continuous improvement

Ensure Secure & Compliant Practices

• Apply strong knowledge of information security principles to ensure compliant handling of sensitive client data
• Proven experience in a hands‑on technical role delivering impact through data engineering, software development, or analytics

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in launching and scaling technical products or platforms
• Strong programming skills in at least two of the following: Python, SQL, Java
• Commercial experience in client‑facing projects is a plus, especially within multi‑disciplinary teams
• Deep knowledge of database technologies:
• Distributed systems (eg, Spark, Hadoop, EMR)
• RDBMS (eg, SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• NoSQL (eg, MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Neo4j)
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices - code reviews, testing frameworks, CI/CD, and code maintainability
• Experience deploying applications into production environments, including packaging, monitoring, and release management
• Ability to extract insights from complex and disparate data sets and communicate clearly with stakeholders
• Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Familiarity with traditional ETL tools (eg, Informatica, Talend, Pentaho, DataStage) and data warehousing concepts
• Strong understanding of data security, compliance, and governance best practices
• Experience leading or influencing cross‑functional teams in a product or platform environment
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills

BCG Expand is a specialist firm providing unique data‑driven Business Intelligence as a trusted advisor to senior executives across the world's leading financial services firms to help them to operate more effectively. Expand's activities are focused on data benchmarking in technology, operations, FinTech and market data, with expertise around strategic cost and human resourcing benchmarking in wholesale finance.

Founded in 2001 as an independent research boutique, Expand is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boston Consulting Group, headquartered in London and with offices in Singapore and New York. At Expand we're proud of our friendly, inclusive and authentic team. It takes diversity of thought, culture, background and perspective to drive a global growing business, understand our clients' needs and maintain our professional, supportive and entrepreneurial working culture that we all enjoy.