Data engineer

Role: Data Engineer

Employment: Full time

Hybrid: Once per week

Leeds/London/Sheffield/

SC Cleared or SC Eligible (Mandatory)

Job summary

• This is a pivotal engineering role at the heart of one of the most significant data transformation programmes in UK public sector client. You will be joining a strategic engagement programme to design, build, and operationalise a cloud-native data lakehouse on Microsoft Azure Fabric.
• This is with the UK's largest public service department, serving over 22 million citizens, and this platform will directly underpin data-driven decision-making at national scale.
• You will take a leading role in the design and delivery of data pipelines, data transformation layers, and lakehouse infrastructure using Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, and related Azure-native technologies.
• You will work in agile squads alongside architects, analysts, and DevOps engineers, contributing to private beta builds, public beta expansion, and full platform operationalisation.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimise data pipelines using Microsoft Fabric (Data Factory, Dataflows Gen2) and Azure Data Factory to ingest data from legacy systems and third-party sources.
• Develop and maintain the Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers of the lakehouse architecture using OneLake, Delta Lake, and Apache Spark within Fabric.
• Implement data transformation logic using PySpark, SQL, and Fabric Notebooks; ensure data quality, lineage, and cataloguing via Microsoft Purview.
• Collaborate with Technical Architects and Infrastructure Engineers to support CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and platform automation
• Contribute to knowledge transfer workshops, running instructions, and documentation to build internal capability.
• Support governance compliance including Digital Design Authority reviews, Red Lines Assessments, and security controls.

Essential requirements

• Strong experience with Microsoft Azure Fabric (Lakehouses, Data Pipelines, Dataflows Gen2, Fabric Notebooks)
• Strong experience with Azure Data Factory (ADF) for orchestration and data movement
• Strong proficiency in PySpark, SQL, and Python for large-scale data transformation
• Strong experience with Delta Lake, Apache Spark, and OneLake architecture
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Purview for data governance, cataloguing, and lineage
• Good experience with Azure DevOps, Git-based version control, and CI/CD pipelines
• Good understanding of data lakehouse architecture (medallion architecture – Bronze/Silver/Gold)
• Good knowledge of Azure storage services (ADLS Gen2, Azure Blob Storage)

Nice to have skills

• Experience with Azure Synapse Analytics or migration from Synapse to Fabric
• Familiarity with Databricks or equivalent distributed processing platforms
• Experience in UK public sector or government data environments
• Understanding of SC clearance requirements and government security classifications
• Knowledge of DDAT frameworks and GDS delivery standards

Qualifications

• Relevant degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related discipline (or equivalent experience)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203) – desirable
• Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer (DP-600) – desirable