Lead Data Engineer / Data Engineering Manager

Lead Data Engineer / Data Engineering Manager Location: London (3 days onsite per week) Salary: £90,000 – £110,000 per annum + Benefits Role Balance: 60% Architecture & Strategy | 40% Hands-On Engineering

We are looking for a Lead Data Engineer / Data Engineering Manager to join our London-based Group Technology & Data team. This role bridges technical leadership and execution, split between 60% data architecture design and 40% hands-on engineering.

You will lead the development and scaling of our Google Cloud Platform (GCP) data estate to support our AI roadmap and strategic business goals, defining standards while actively building solutions alongside the engineering team.

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture (60%): Design and evolve our GCP-based data architecture. Define technical standards, patterns, and security frameworks (data retention, access control, and BigQuery archiving) to meet business and data governance needs.
• Engineering (40%): Work hands-on with the team to build, deploy, and support new data solutions. Guide ETL delivery using Terraform, dbt, and Airflow, while driving automated testing and CI/CD practices.

Required Experience & Skills

• Background: Proven experience as a Lead Data Engineer, Data Engineering Manager, or Data Solutions Architect.
• GCP Stack: Strong hands-on knowledge of Google Cloud Storage (GCS), BigQuery, Airflow, and dbt (or similar).
• Security & Governance: Practical experience implementing data retention, access policies, and vulnerability management.
• Leadership: Ability to assess internal needs, influence technical direction, and explain complex technical designs simply.

Benefits & Perks

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays (option to purchase 5 additional days).
• Age-related employer pension contributions between 8% and 12%.
• Fully funded, single-cover private healthcare.
• Life assurance and comprehensive income protection cover.
• Enhanced parental leave (Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, and Shared Parental).

Robert Walters Operations Limited is an employment business and employment agency and welcomes applications from all candidates