Senior Data Engineer

Primark; Reading; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Primark is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to join the Data Platform & Engineering team in Reading, UK. You’ll design and deliver scalable data solutions on the Databricks platform, building trusted data products for reporting, analytics, AI and data science.

You will mentor engineers, drive engineering best practices and help migrate from Teradata to Databricks, shaping Primark's data & analytics capabilities across the business.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale data pipelines.
• Proven track record in lakehouse architectures and data modelling.
• Strong leadership, mentoring and cross-functional collaboration.
• Hands-on expertise with Databricks, Spark and SQL at scale.
• Experience migrating data platforms (Teradata to Databricks) is a plus.
• Azure cloud data platform knowledge and CI/CD practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and optimise scalable data pipelines and transformations.
• Architect and maintain lakehouse data models and platforms.
• Provide technical leadership and establish engineering best practices.
• Lead code reviews, mentoring and knowledge sharing across teams.
• Drive platform modernization and migration projects (Teradata to Databricks).
• Partner with Analytics, Data Science and governance teams to deliver value.

Skills

Advanced data engineering

Data architecture

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Stakeholder engagement

Tools

Databricks

dbt Cloud

dbt Core

Azure

PySpark

Spark

SQL

Job description

Technology at Primark

Our technology team is actively shaping the next wave of advancements. Engaged with innovative initiatives, your expertise will propel our business into the future. Collaborating with a creative team of tech enthusiasts, you’ll contribute your unique skills to fuel our technological advancements.

We are seeking aSenior Data Engineerto join Primark’s Data Platform & Engineering team, leading the design and delivery of scalable data solutions on our Databricks-based enterprise platform. You will build andoptimisetrusted data products that power reporting, analytics, AI and data science across the business. Working closely with engineering, analytics and business teams, you will provide technical leadership, mentor Data Engineers and drive engineering best practices. This is a hands‑on role for an experienced engineer with deep expertise in Databricks,dbtCloud, Spark and SQL, who is passionate about delivering high‑quality data solutions. You will play a key role in Primark’s migration from Teradata to Databricks and the ongoing evolution of our Data & Analytics capabilities.

What you'll do

• Data Engineering Delivery:Design, build andoptimisescalable data pipelines, ETL/ELT workflows and data transformation solutions using Databricks,PySpark, SQL anddbtCloud, delivering trusted, high‑quality data products that support reporting, analytics, AI and data science.

• Data Architecture & Modelling:Develop and maintain robustlakehousearchitectures and reusable data models, ensuring solutions are scalable, performant, secure and aligned with enterprise data standards.

• Technical Leadership & Engineering Excellence:Lead engineering initiatives, establish best practices and drive high standards across development, testing, deployment, documentation and monitoring, while championing automation and CI/CD adoption.

• Code Quality & Team Mentorship:Provide technical guidance, conduct code reviews and mentor Data Engineers to strengthen engineering capability, promote knowledge sharing and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

• PlatformModernisation:Play a key role in Primark’s migration from Teradata to Databricks, supporting dataremodelling, pipeline migration, performanceoptimisationand the ongoing evolution of the enterprise data platform.

• Data Product Delivery & Stakeholder Collaboration:Partner with Analytics, Data Science, Governance and business stakeholders to translate requirements into scalable technical solutions and reusable datasets that deliver measurable business value.

• Continuous Improvement & Strategic Contribution:Identify opportunities to improve platform performance, scalability and cost efficiency, while contributing to engineering standards, roadmap initiatives and the long‑term growth of Primark’s Data & Analytics capabilities.

What you'll bring

• Advanced Data Engineering Experience (5-8 Years):Strong hands‑on experience designing, building andoptimisingenterprise‑scale data pipelines and data platforms using Databricks,PySparkand advanced SQL.

• Cloud Data Platforms & Architecture:Proven experience working with Azure-based data technologies and designing scalablelakehousearchitectures, data models and modern cloud data solutions.

• dbt& Engineering Best Practices:Experience withdbtCloud ordbtCore, including model development, testing, documentation, lineage, deployment workflows, CI/CD and version control practices.

• Data Quality, Performance &Optimisation:Strong understanding of data quality, observability, operational monitoring and performance tuning, with a focus on delivering reliable, scalable and cost‑efficient data solutions.

• Data Product Delivery & Commercial Value:Demonstrated success delivering data products that support analytics, reporting, AI and data science use cases, driving measurable business outcomes and value creation.

• Technical Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement:Ability to provide technical leadership, translate business requirements into scalable solutions and collaborate effectively across Engineering, Analytics, Governance, Architecture and business teams.

• Mentoring & Continuous Improvement:Experience coaching engineers, sharing best practices and driving continuous improvement across data engineering teams.

About Primark

At Primark, people matter. They’re the beating heart of our business and the reason we’ve grown from our first store in Dublin in 1969 to a £9bn+ turnover business and over 80,000 colleagues and over 440 stores in 17 countries today. Our values run through everything we do. In essence, we're Caring and always strive to put people first. We're also Dynamic, bravely pushing the boundaries to stay ahead. And finally, we succeed Together.

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All offers of employment are subject to background checks, including right to work, reference education and for some roles criminal, and financial checks. If you have any concerns, please reach out to our talent acquisition team to discuss.