Senior Data Engineer

Oxford University Press; England; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publisher in the UK seeks a Senior Data Engineer to handle complex data pipeline processes for integrated AI applications. The role involves optimization, integration, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. Key skills required include Python, AWS experience, and expertise in data management. This is a 12-month fixed-term contract with hybrid working options and various employee benefits.

Benefits

25 days' holiday plus bank holidays

12% pension contribution

Flexible working patterns

Discretionary annual payment

Access to employee networks

Qualifications

• Experience building and optimising complex data pipelines.
• Experience with structured and unstructured data.
• Expert proficiency in Python required.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain complex data pipeline processes.
• Investigate and correct data defects.
• Integrate applications to work effectively with data.

Skills

Complex data pipelines optimization

Working with structured data in XML/JSON

Data pipeline management tools (Jenkins)

Expert proficiency in Python

Experience with AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, SageMaker)

Supporting cross-functional teams

Data manipulation tools

Process improvements

Understanding of AI tools/concepts

Tools

AWS cloud services

Jenkins

Linux administration

NLP tools

SQL

Job description

We are the world's largest university press. That means we serve the academic community as no other publisher can. We work in partnership with institutions and learned societies to bring a world of knowledge to the fingertips of students and researchers worldwide.

The goal is impact. Together with our academic communities, we curate and seamlessly connect together the ideas that push their fields forward, so they can learn from them, add to them, and continue a virtuous cycle of scholarship.

And because we are a part of the academic community and guided in everything we do by our mission, we re-invest in our people, our publishing, and the world-leading research institution of which we are part.

About the Role

As our new Senior Data Engineer, you will be responsible for building, maintaining, and running complex data pipeline processes associated with integrated AI applications, to enable new product features and business benefits. You must investigate, diagnose and correct data defects, as well as identifying and reporting data processing issues.

You will also be responsible for integrating applications so they work effectively with data, and thus supporting colleagues on data projects and delivering against the strategic requirements of the New Ventures innovation programme. This involves working with a range of platforms, systems, and tools developed as standard applications by OUP's Technology teams or by third-party suppliers, integrating them with each other and with existing infrastructure, and configuring or customizing those applications to meet business needs.

As a senior team member, you will be responsible for operating at an advanced technical level, with expert programming skills and the ability to analyse and rearchitect existing data pipelines, as well as setting data engineering best practice.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

Essential:

• Experience building and optimising complex data pipelines, architectures and data sets.
• Experience of working with structured data in XML and / or JSON format as well as unstructured data.
• Practical experience with data pipelines and workflow management tools, with a preference for Jenkins.
• Expert proficiency in Python.
• Experience with AWS cloud services including EC2, S3, Lambda, and SageMaker.
• Experience supporting and working with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.
• Experience of working with a variety of data manipulation tools to identify and correct problems.
• Experience in identifying and implementing process improvements.
• Demonstrated understanding of AI tools, concepts, and related skills such as prompt engineering

Desirable:

• Linux administration experience (e.g. bash scripting, sed, awk).
• Experience of working with linguistic data and NLP (natural language processing) tools.
• Experience of automated test methodologies and frameworks, including test-driven development and behaviour-driven development.
• Relational database and SQL skills.
• Proficiency in server-side scripting languages other than Python.

Please note, this is a 12 month fixed term contract.

Benefits

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days' holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.

Queries

Please contact [e-mail] with any queries relating to this role.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.