Principal Engineer, BCG Expand, London

Boston Consulting Group (BCG); Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the design and implementation of data infrastructure for analytics and strategic product development. This role entails collaborating with product stakeholders to architect scalable data solutions and ensure alignment with business objectives.

The ideal candidate should have strong programming skills, experience with cloud platforms, and a deep understanding of database technologies. The position is based in Greater London and requires overseeing product initiatives across teams while ensuring data security and compliance.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a hands-on technical role delivering impact through data engineering, software development, or analytics.
• Strong programming skills in at least two of Python, SQL, Java.
• Deep knowledge of database technologies.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices, including CI/CD.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of data infrastructure for analytics.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to architect end-to-end data pipelines.
• Oversee execution of product initiatives across teams.
• Ensure secure and compliant handling of sensitive data.
• Contribute to product strategy and vision.

Skills

Data engineering

Software development

Analytics

Python

SQL

Java

Database technologies

Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Stakeholder management

Tools

Spark

Hadoop

SQL Server

Oracle

PostgreSQL

MySQL

MongoDB

Cassandra

DynamoDB

Neo4j

Job description

What You'll Do

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 modeling, 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
• Build and deploy solutions with security, maintainability, and scalability top of mind

What You'll Bring

An Ideal Candidate Will Have

• Proven experience in a hands‑on technical role delivering impact through data engineering, software development, or analytics
• 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 (e.g., Spark, Hadoop, EMR)
• RDBMS (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• NoSQL (e.g., 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 (e.g., 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

Boston Consulting Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected under national, provincial, or local law, where applicable, and those with criminal histories will be considered in a manner consistent with applicable state and local laws.

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