Director of Data Engineering

Harnham; Netherlands; Remote; EUR 135,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus and benefits package

Job summary

Harnham is seeking an Engineering Director to own and lead the engineering function behind a major Data Hub transformation. You will build and mentor a high-performing team spanning data, analytics and platform engineering, while delivering scalable, production-ready solutions.

In this role you will shape engineering standards, drive architecture decisions, oversee migrations and new platform development, and partner with product, security and external partners to translate business needs into

Qualifications

• Strong commercial experience across data engineering, analytics engineering or platform engineering.
• Proven capability building, leading and developing engineering teams.
• Experience delivering complex data platform transformations, migrations, consolidations or greenfield builds.
• Hands-on knowledge of modern data stacks, including cloud data warehouses, transformation frameworks and orchestration tools.
• Experience with Snowflake is highly advantageous.
• Strong understanding of software engineering practices, CI/CD, testing, production reliability and architectural design.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-sensitive environments.
• Ability to balance technical quality, delivery priorities and sustainable team performance.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead and develop a high-performing team across data engineering, analytics engineering and platform engineering.
• Own engineering delivery, including sprint planning, capacity management, technical quality and delivery accountability.
• Lead technical design reviews and architecture decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable and production-ready.
• Establish engineering standards across code review, CI/CD, testing, documentation, DevOps and GitOps.
• Oversee complex data platform initiatives, including legacy migrations, consolidation and new platform development.
• Establish monitoring, alerting and incident response processes to support platform reliability and SLAs.
• Remain close enough to the technology to review code, troubleshoot production issues and make informed architectural decisions.
• Work across product, technology, security and external partners to manage dependencies and translate business requirements into technical scope.
• Support hiring, onboarding, team development and strategic engineering planning.

Skills

Data engineering

Analytics engineering

Platform engineering

Team leadership

CI/CD

Production reliability

Architecture design

Tools

Snowflake

Orchestration tools

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Up to €150,000 annually + benefits and bonus

Please note that for this role you need to be eligible to work in the Netherlands - unable to transfer or sponsor from scratch

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a major data platform transformation, building and leading the engineering capability behind a centralised Data Hub. You will combine technical leadership with hands-on engineering oversight, shaping how data infrastructure, governance and AI and machine learning capabilities scale across the organisation.

The Company

They are an established international organisation investing significantly in modernising their data and technology landscape. Their Data Hub has moved from strategy into execution, with executive sponsorship, a defined roadmap and a clear mandate. The focus is on consolidating fragmented data infrastructure into a scalable, governed platform that can support multiple business areas. They are now looking for an Engineering Director to build and lead the engineering function.

The Role

• Build, lead and develop a high-performing team across data engineering, analytics engineering and platform engineering.
• Own engineering delivery, including sprint planning, capacity management, technical quality and delivery accountability.
• Lead technical design reviews and architecture decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable and production-ready.
• Establish engineering standards across code review, CI/CD, testing, documentation, DevOps and GitOps.
• Oversee complex data platform initiatives, including legacy migrations, consolidation and new platform development.
• Establish monitoring, alerting and incident response processes to support platform reliability and SLAs.
• Remain close enough to the technology to review code, troubleshoot production issues and make informed architectural decisions.
• Work across product, technology, security and external partners to manage dependencies and translate business requirements into technical scope.
• Support hiring, onboarding, team development and strategic engineering planning.

Your Skills & Experience

• Strong commercial experience across data engineering, analytics engineering or platform engineering.
• Proven capability building, leading and developing engineering teams.
• Strong experience delivering complex data platform transformations, migrations, consolidations or greenfield builds.
• Hands-on knowledge of modern data stacks, including cloud data warehouses, transformation frameworks and orchestration tools.
• Experience with Snowflake is highly advantageous.
• Strong understanding of software engineering practices, CI/CD, testing, production reliability and architectural design.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-sensitive environments.
• Ability to balance technical quality, delivery priorities and sustainable team performance.

What They Offer

• Up to €150,000 annually.
• Bonus and benefits package.
• Fully remote working within the Netherlands or UK.
• Significant ownership of a business-critical data platform.
• The opportunity to build and shape an engineering function rather than simply inherit one.
• Scope to influence architecture, engineering standards and long-term data strategy.