Technical Lead - Data Engineer

Transport for London; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 88,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free travel on TfL network

Hybrid working model

Private healthcare (optional)

Job summary

Transport for London is seeking a Technical Lead - Data Engineer in London. The role drives technical design and implementation within an Agile Data & Analytics team, delivering data platforms and self-serve analytics tools.

You will guide high and low level designs, mentoring developers and ensuring quality across production services. The position requires strong T-SQL, Python, and Databricks SQL skills, plus experience with Azure Data Factory, Databricks, and Azure Synapse.

Qualifications

• Experience leading an agile data team and delivering data products.
• Strong knowledge of T-SQL, Databricks SQL and Python.
• Hands-on with Azure data services and DevOps pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build and test of data products from diverse data sources.
• Provide technical direction to an Agile D&A team and review designs.
• Drive adoption of delivery frameworks and ensure test-driven development.
• Engage stakeholders across technical domains to align delivery.
• Forecast work and contribute to delivery planning for managers.

Skills

Communication

Data modelling

Data integration

Tools

Azure DevOps

Git

Azure Data Factory

Databricks

Azure Synapse

Azure SQL Database

Key Vaults

Job description

Job title: Technical Lead - Data Engineer

Salary: £80-88k

Grade: Band 3

Contract type: TfL

Reference: 5281

Contract details: Location: Pier Walk, North Greenwich

Application closing date: 19/8/2026 at 23:59

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right‑to‑work checks. Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. At the present time TfL is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.

Overview Of Project/role

The Technical Lead is responsible for driving the technical design and implementation within an Agile team in Data & Analytics (D&A), working on the development and maintenance of bespoke software which complies with D&A architecture standards, design principles and development standards.

The role holder will provide technical direction to a D&A agile team, during the creation of high and low level technical designs and during software development and testing.

The role holder is a subject matter expert in data platforms.

• Data & Analytics provide insight to inform customer and business decisions (harnessing data to solve transport challenges).
• Data & Analytics will own Business Intelligence/Data Science, data and/or analysis platforms, and the frequent delivery and support of all production services using these platforms. A priority will be designing delivery of tools that allow for self-serve across TfL, providing quality information for decision making.
• Where prototyped concepts demonstrate that data can be used to improve business, operational or customer outcomes this will be scaled, built and operationalised as a supported data product.
• Data & Analytics will define and publish a data governance framework, architecture, development standards and enforce compliance across all business units with teams working in this area.
• To effectuate a lower total cost of ownership for data and analytics services.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead on the development processes and accountable for the design, build and test of data products based on a variety of data sources, using a range of different storage technologies, access methods or both to ensure that created products are repeatable and reusable. Author and review design standards to be agreed at the relevant technical forums within D&A.
• Actively involved in data innovation, identifying opportunities for innovation with new tools and uses of data.
• Lead on stakeholder management in relation to ensuring other technical domains within T&D are aligned to support the work of D&A and develop strong working relationships to streamline cross team processes.
• Lead on the adoption of the departments Delivery Framework and Best Practices in the agile team. Understand and champion the role of Test Driven Development in the development lifecycle and the use of Test Automation to enable continuous integration and deployment.
• Lead, organise, conduct or participate in meetings / delivery events and follow processes defined for their team to ensure quality of work and efficiency of the team.
• Uphold the principles and standards of Data & Analytics to ensure that work delivered is of high quality, well rounded, robust, very high performing, and meets the priorities set by the agile process
• Using technical knowledge and experience feed in to forecasts (man days) and delivery plans for the Technical Delivery Managers to present at wider forums and supporting at these forums where required.
• Responsible for line managing, developing, motivating and engaging a development team, ensuring that they are being given the full support needed to successfully deliver data products for D&A.

Knowledge

• Data Solution development lifecycle including design, development, unit, functional and regression testing and deployment.
• Agile Scrum development approach including the nature and purpose of Agile ceremonies
• Practitioner Knowledge in:
• T-SQL, Databricks SQL and Python.
• Azure DevOps, including workflow management (Boards) & development performance management, Deployment and Release Pipelines, and using GIT as a code repository
• Azure Resources including Data Factory, Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Database, Key Vaults.
• Working knowledge in, Azure Resources including Azure Data Explorer, Event Hubs, Event Grid, Service Bus and Stream Analytics.

Skills

• Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You are able to translate technical concepts into non-technical language.
• Data modelling. You can interpret and critique conceptual, logical and physical data models and use them to design data solutions.
• Data integration design. You can deliver data solutions in accordance with agreed organisational standards that ensure services are resilient, scalable and future-proof.

Experience

• Experience of leading and managing an agile team
• Proven track record of delivering value creation through data-driven insights
• Proven track record of leading technical staff to create new analytic tools and techniques that inform business decision-making
• Experienced in large enterprise business /data warehouse implementations
• Experience of operating in a dynamic working environment, handling multiple tasks and deadlines, delivering to time, budget, and quality

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.

Benefits

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.

We may close this advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.