Department: Technology
Location: Oxford, UK
Description
Aurora's Data Platform sits at the centre of how we help governments, investors, and utilities make billion‑dollar decisions on the journey to net‑zero.
We're seeking an inspirational Head of Data Platform Engineering to establish and lead this new organisation. You will own Aurora's end-to-end data foundations - ingestion, transformation, pipelines, storage, metadata, and data access - and oversee our Data Operations capability in Oxford and Gurugram, working through the existing Operations Manager who will continue to run the day-to-day team.
Our data platform already processes trillions of rows of data per month, spanning global markets, modelling outputs, and customer‑facing application datasets. You will evolve this platform into a next-generation scalable, high‑performance environment designed for global scale, and advanced AI and software workloads.
You'll inherit a function of 8 people initially - including the India‑based Data Operations team - and will be responsible for shaping the long‑term organisation, defining standards, hiring new talent, and driving the engineering culture.
If you thrive on building platforms at scale, setting technical direction, and leading high‑impact teams that sit at the core of our organisation, we'd love to meet you.
Reports to: Chief Technology Officer
Key Responsibilities
Lead and develop a world class data engineering and operations team
Build and lead an 8–12 person Data Platform Engineering team, including Data Operations in Oxford and Gurugram
Set the long-term organisational structure and operating model across Data Engineering, Data Architecture, Data Operations and governance
Grow talent, drive engineering excellence, and build a high ownership, continuous improvement culture
Partner closely with the existing Senior Engineer, who will play a central role in architecture, design, implementation and technical standards
Delivery of a Data Platform to enable fast insight across our global data set
Modernise or replace existing solutions to deliver a scalable, high‑performance platform that enables rapid insight across a large, fast‑evolving global dataset for both internal and client‑facing use-cases
Own the platform across ingestion, transformation, pipelines, warehousing and Lakehouse layers
Maintain unified schemas and data models; deliver robust APIs for traditional and Ai powered consumption
Optimise compute, storage and query patterns for a platform processing trillions of rows monthly, ensuring cost-effective global scale and high availability workloads
Source and transform data to support our regional teams
Lead Data Operations to deliver timely, reliable and high quality data, as needed by our regional and software use-cases
Implement observability across freshness, drift, volume, quality and pipeline health
Increase automation and resilience across the estate
Strengthen metadata, lineage, governance & quality
Maintain a comprehensive catalogue covering datasets, schemas and metrics
Define metadata, governance, quality and retention standards
Ensure secure data access, privacy, compliance and auditability in partnership with InfoSec
Collaborate to maximise product and modelling impact
Partner with Product Engineering on APIs, data flows and application-level needs
Work closely with Modelling & Platform Engineering on ingestion, schema alignment and scalable execution pipelines
Coordinate with regional Research teams on internal use cases, data acquisition and validation processes
Shape data priorities with Product Management to maximise platform leverage and product outcomes
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Leadership & People
Significant experience leading data engineering or data platform teams (ideally including multi‑site or offshore/nearshore groups)
Demonstrated ability to build new teams, create strong engineering culture, and lead through organisational change
Proven capability in developing talent, coaching, and driving engineering excellence
Technical Excellence
Deep knowledge of modern data architecture, including data lakes / Lakehouse patterns, warehouse technologies, ELT/ETL frameworks and strong data modelling experience
Hands‑on experience designing layered (Medallion) data architectures and implementing large‑scale metadata and lineage tooling
Proficiency with cloud‑native data platforms (AWS preferred), including governance, security, and cost optimisation
Solid understanding of APIs, microservices, and data distribution patterns across complex product ecosystems
Familiarity with key Aurora technologies (Python, TypeScript, AWS Lambda, MySQL, S3, Redshift, MongoDB, etc.) is beneficial
Execution & Strategy
Proven record of delivering large‑scale data platform transformations, raising quality, reducing operational risk, and improving performance
Ability to balance short‑term product needs with long‑term platform sustainability
Excellent communication and stakeholder alignment skills across engineering, modelling, product, and research
Strong commercial awareness and ability to translate business goals into engineering priorities
Academic & Professional Foundations
BSc/MSc in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field or equivalent practical experience
What we offer
Some of the benefits we include are:
Private Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Parental Support
Salary-Exchange Pension
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Local Oxford Discounts
Cycle-to-work Scheme
Flu Jabs
At AER, we are committed to offering flexibility in the way we work. Most of our roles are hybrid with a mix of in-office/home working and potentially adjustable working hours. Let's discuss what works for you and AER during the interview process.
The Company is committed to the principle that no employee or job applicant shall receive unfavourable treatment on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, and maternity.
To apply, please submit your Résumé / CV, a personal summary, your salary expectations and please inform us of your notice period.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications via email, telephone, or social media platforms. To be considered for this position, please submit your application using the link provided. Applications submitted through any other channel will not be reviewed.