Job Summary:
Shape the Future of Data at a Global Institution This is a rare opportunity to step into a senior leadership role at one of the world's most respected
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Data Engineering Lead
Job Description:
Lead Data Engineer
Canary Wharf – London
6 months contract – £700 per day – Inside IR35
As Lead Data Engineer (VP), you will be at the forefront of a major cloud and data transformation programme — designing, building, and governing the data infrastructure that powers critical business decisions across the organisation.
If you thrive on solving complex data engineering challenges, love mentoring talented engineers, and want your work to have real strategic impact, this role was made for you.
The Role Reporting to the Head of Data Engineering, you will lead a skilled team of data engineers and take ownership of the bank’s data platform strategy. You will drive the migration from legacy Oracle environments to modern cloud-based data lakehouse architectures using Databricks and Azure, while instilling best-in-class engineering practices across the team.
What You’ll Be Doing
There is an occasional requirement for early morning or late evening cover, as well as very infrequent weekend or Bank Holiday availability to support critical operational needs.
Canary Wharf – London
6 months contract – £700 per day – Inside IR35
As Lead Data Engineer (VP), you will be at the forefront of a major cloud and data transformation programme — designing, building, and governing the data infrastructure that powers critical business decisions across the organisation.
If you thrive on solving complex data engineering challenges, love mentoring talented engineers, and want your work to have real strategic impact, this role was made for you.
The Role Reporting to the Head of Data Engineering, you will lead a skilled team of data engineers and take ownership of the bank’s data platform strategy. You will drive the migration from legacy Oracle environments to modern cloud-based data lakehouse architectures using Databricks and Azure, while instilling best-in-class engineering practices across the team.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Architecting and delivering scalable, enterprise-grade data pipelines and ELT/ETL solutions on cloud platforms.
- Leading and mentoring a team of data engineers, setting standards and fostering a high-performance engineering culture.
- Driving the migration of legacy Oracle data systems to modern cloud data lakehouse environments (Databricks / Azure).
- Owning data modelling, integration patterns, and platform governance — including metadata management, data lineage, and MDM.
- Partnering with business stakeholders to translate complex requirements into robust, performant engineering solutions.
- Championing CI/CD, Git workflows, DevOps practices, and orchestration tooling (ADF, Airflow) across the team.
- Contributing to strategic data initiatives and presenting technical insights clearly to non-technical audiences.
- Driving process automation and identifying opportunities to optimise data operations.
- Degree-level education in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent professional experience.
- Proven, hands-on experience implementing Databricks or comparable large-scale cloud data platforms.
- Deep expertise in data modelling, Delta Lake, data lakehouse principles, and cloud data architecture.
- Strong SQL programming skills with solid working knowledge of Python and/or PySpark.
- Experience leading data engineering teams and delivering enterprise-scale solutions end to end.
- Demonstrable track record of designing high-performance data pipelines and optimising processing workloads.
- Solid understanding of Oracle database structures, stored procedures, and performance tuning.
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, Git-based workflows, orchestration tools (ADF, Airflow), and DevOps practices.
- Experience with MDM, metadata management, data lineage, and data governance tooling.
- Experience migrating data from Oracle or other legacy systems to cloud environments.
- Relevant cloud or Databricks certifications (Azure Data Engineer Associate, Databricks Data Engineer Professional).
- Knowledge of regulatory data management within financial services or other highly regulated industries.
- Experience driving engineering guilds or communities of practice.
- Proactive and solution-focused — you see problems as opportunities and take ownership without being asked.
- Detail-oriented with a strong sense of accountability for the quality and reliability of your work.
- Resilient and adaptable — comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-paced, regulated environment.
- A collaborative team player with the presence and confidence to lead and influence at VP level.
- Curious and innovative, with a genuine appetite for challenging the status quo and driving continuous improvement.
- Passionate about sharing knowledge and developing the next generation of data engineers.
There is an occasional requirement for early morning or late evening cover, as well as very infrequent weekend or Bank Holiday availability to support critical operational needs.
