Staff Data Engineer (Exclusive)

Ocho People; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Ocho People in Belfast is seeking a Staff Data Engineer to own and shape large-scale distributed data pipelines and storage systems. This hands-on role requires setting architecture standards and guiding data infrastructure as the business grows.

You'll work with an open-source stack (Airflow/Dagster, Spark, dbt, Kafka, AWS) and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver reliable, scalable data solutions on a hybrid/remote basis.

Qualifications

• 7+ years designing and building robust, scalable distributed data systems and pipelines.
• Strong experience with orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow or Dagster.
• Experience with dbt, Spark, SQL, Athena/Trino, Redshift, Snowflake, PostgreSQL/MySQL.
• Experience with public cloud (AWS, GCP or Azure) and Terraform.
• Strong grasp of CI/CD, git, agile delivery and containerisation.

Responsibilities

• Design and build large-scale, distributed data pipelines and storage systems.
• Own reliability and scalability of core data infrastructure.
• Optimise data storage and retrieval processes across the platform.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate data requirements into solutions.
• Champion software engineering best practice across the data function.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across distributed systems.
• Mentor and influence engineering standards across the team.

Skills

Distributed data systems

Orchestration tools

Open-source stack

Cloud platforms

CI/CD & Git

Tools

Airflow

Dagster

dbt

Spark

SQL

Athena/Trino

Redshift

Snowflake

PostgreSQL/MySQL

AWS

Terraform

Job description

Staff Data Engineer

Belfast (Hybrid/ Remote) | Full-time

• Staff-level ownership of large-scale, distributed data pipelines, not just execution
• Modern open-source stack: Airflow/Dagster, Spark, dbt, Kafka, AWS
• Flexible Hybrid working out of Belfast
• Join a platform already moving billions of consumer interactions a year, still scaling

About the Company

This business has spent two decades quietly becoming essential infrastructure for global retail: a network that now connects thousands of brands and retailers with billions of consumers worldwide, built from a single office in 2005 into an operation spanning North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It has been independently recognised as a Great Place to Work across seven countries, a rare feat for a company operating at this scale.

The Role

As a key member of the Insights team, you'll design, build and support the large-scale distributed data systems that power decision-making for some of the world's biggest retail brands. This is a genuinely senior, hands-on role: you'll shape architecture, set engineering standards, and have real influence over how data infrastructure scales as the business grows further.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build large-scale, distributed data pipelines and storage systems
• Own reliability and scalability of core data infrastructure
• Optimise data storage and retrieval processes across the platform
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate data requirements into solutions
• Champion software engineering best practice across the data function
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across distributed systems
• Mentor and influence engineering standards across the team

Essential:

• 7+ years designing and building robust, scalable, distributed data systems and pipelines
• Strong experience with orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow or Dagster
• Experience with dbt, Spark, SQL, Athena/Trino, Redshift, Snowflake, PostgreSQL/MySQL
• Experience with public cloud (AWS, GCP or Azure) and Terraform
• Strong grasp of CI/CD, git, agile delivery and containerisation

Desirable:

• Knowledge of event-driven and streaming technologies (Kafka, Kafka Streams, Flink)
• Prior technical leadership or mentoring experience

Why Apply?

• Hybrid working model based in Belfast
• Staff-level scope with genuine architectural influence
• Work on a platform processing data at genuinely global scale
• Backed by a company independently certified as a Great Place to Work in seven countries
• Modern, open-source-first engineering culture