Staff Data Engineer

Jobtailor; Coventry; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday + bank holidays

Annual bonus scheme

Family-friendly policies

Leading pension scheme

Sharesave

Dedicated training and development

Electric vehicle scheme

Volunteering days

Job summary

Severn Trent Water seeks a Staff Data Engineer to translate high-level designs into delivery-ready low-level designs. You will provide hands-on technical leadership across data platforms from ingestion to serving, ensuring governance and guardrails are in place.

The role is based at our Coventry centre, full-time, with 37 hours per week. You will collaborate with Senior Data Engineers to shape optimal data solutions and mentor engineers on best-practice patterns.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and reviewing low-level designs for modern data platforms in Azure.
• Hands-on Databricks data engineering expertise with strong SQL skills.
• Ability to explain design rationale to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide early delivery design assurance translating HLDs to delivery-ready LLDs.
• Ensure designs align with architecture standards, data governance, security, and guardrails.
• Drive maintainable, reusable designs aligned to business outcomes.
• Own the quality of delivery designs across data platforms.

Skills

Low-level design

Data platforms

SQL

Communication

Mentoring

Tools

Databricks

Azure

ADLS

ADF

Synapse

Informatica

Azure SQL

Event Hub

Key Vault

Job description

At Severn Trent, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We’re in the top 5% of utility companies worldwide for employee engagement, and we’re equally proud of our strong Glassdoor score — reflecting how much our people love working here.

Join us to make a positive impact on the environment and our communities, while being valued and supported in a truly inclusive workplace.

If you want to do more, because you care, we want you on our team.

LET’S TELL YOU MORE

We’re looking for a Staff Data Engineer who ensures that architectural designs and standards are translated into consistent, optimal, and delivery‑ready low‑level designs across all data delivery streams. The role provides early design assurance, hands‑on technical leadership, and governance of delivery‑level design to reduce risk, tech debt, and rework as Severn Trent scales its data platforms. You'll be based at our Severn Trent Centre head office in Coventry. You’ll work within our dedicated Data Engineering team of 14. With this being such a critical role, we’re looking for someone who can join us 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday.

Key Accountabilities in the role include:

• Provide early delivery design assurance, translating High Level Designs (HLDs) and approved patterns into delivery‑ready Low Level Designs (LLDs).
• Ensure designs align with architecture standards, data governance requirements, security controls, and platform guardrails.
• Drive solutions that are fit for purpose, operable, maintainable, and aligned to business outcomes, balancing value, risk, and reusability.
• Act as the first‑line design assurance function, escalating only material variances and strategic decisions to Architecture.
• Own the quality and operability of delivery designs across both incumbent and emerging data platforms.
• Operate across data trains, hub teams, mid‑tier demand, and small change deliveries, driving consistency in design approaches and engineering practices.
• Identify and promote reuse opportunities, reducing duplication and preventing unnecessary divergence across teams.
• Collaborate with Senior Data Engineers to shape solutions that are optimal for Severn Trent’s data platforms and operating model.
• Provide expert technical leadership, coaching engineers on best‑practice patterns for data ingestion, transformation, storage, and serving.

HOW WE WORK

You’ll join a caring culture that collaborates to achieve, grow, and develop. Our employee engagement scores are among the highest globally in energy and utilities. That’s why we value in‑person moments to keep our culture alive but also understand the flexibility working from home can bring. So, you’ll usually find us in the office, but working from home is supported, when you need it.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• Extensive experience designing and reviewing low‑level designs for modern data platforms in Azure.
• Deep, hands‑on experience using Databricks as a primary data engineering platform.
• Strong understanding of cloud data services (e.g. ADLS, ADF, Synapse, Databricks, Informatica, Azure SQL, Event Hub, Key Vault).
• Experience working in matrix or federated models, including dotted‑line support to local delivery hubs.
• Strong SQL skills and confidence working across raw, curated and consumer‑ready data layers.
• Clear, concise communication with the ability to explain design rationale and trade‑offs to technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• This is an individual contributor role. Where operationally helpful, the role may include limited line management of engineers (e.g. Data Engineers and less experienced Senior Data Engineers) to support development and performance management.

Skills and experience are important, but character, positivity, and a caring attitude matter too. We welcome people from all walks of life and celebrate individuality as we know diverse minds, experiences and backgrounds help us to learn and better serve our communities. We seek people who get involved, want to be part of something bigger, and make a difference because they care.

HOW WE’LL REWARD AND CARE FOR YOU IN RETURN

It’s not just a job; it’s a career. We offer benefits that reward great work and award‑winning training to help you reach your potential. Plus, you’ll contribute to the environment and community too. Here are some of our favourites:

• 28 days holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/sell up to 5 days per year)
• Annual bonus scheme (of up to £2,225, which is subject to eligibility)
• Family‑friendly policies (including a year off fully paid maternity and adoption leave)
• Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)
• Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent plc shares at a discounted rate
• Dedicated training and development with our Academy
• Electric vehicle scheme and retail offers
• Two paid volunteering days per year

LET’S GO

We can’t wait to hear from you! Have an updated CV ready and spare five minutes to apply. We’ll let you know the outcome after the closing date, so keep an eye on your phone and emails.