Job Description
About the job
Data Migration / Application Retirement Consultant
Contract: 6 months
IR35: Inside IR35
Location: Preston (on-site as required – 5 days per week)
Clearance: UK National, SC cleared or eligible for SC transfer
Package: Competitive day rate / package
Why Join This Opportunity?
1. Work on a high-profile, secure programme focused on enterprise application retirement
2. Tackle large-scale, complex datasets in a regulated environment
3. Training on a modern data archiving / application retirement platform
4. Influence runbooks, validation approaches and BAU processes
5. Join a hands-on, technically strong team of engineers and SMEs
The Role
You’ll lead end-to-end data migration and application retirement activities: from discovery and analysis, through build and validation, to cutover and hypercare.
You’ll work closely with platform SMEs, DBAs, BAs and test teams to ensure accurate, auditable, and secure migration of data from legacy applications into a long-term archive.
Key Responsibilities
6. Set up and validate migration environments, connectivity and schema access
7. Analyse source system structures, dependencies and data lineage for planning
8. Build and run repeatable migration workflows, optimising performance using SQL and scripting
9. Deliver structured data validation and reconciliation (row counts, checksums, RI checks, exception handling)
10. Support UAT, helping test teams recreate issues and debug SQL/configuration defects
11. Prepare detailed cutover runbooks and support production cutover and hypercare
12. Produce clear technical documentation and handover to BAU teams
What We’re Looking For
Essential
13. 10+ years’ experience in data engineering, ETL, DBA or large-scale data migration
14. Strong SQL on Oracle and/or SQL Server (debugging, tuning, profiling)
15. Deep understanding of relational database design (PK/FK, indexes, constraints, stored procedures)
16. Proven data reconciliation and audit experience in complex environments
17. Confident in Linux, including shell scripting and basic automation
18. Experience with secure connectivity (SFTP, JDBC, ODBC) and scheduled workloads
19. Strong stakeholder skills – able to work with BAs, testers, engineers and project leadership
20. UK National with active SC or eligible for SC transfer
Advantageous
21. Experience with data archiving / application retirement tools
22. Background in Defence, Aerospace or other regulated sectors
23. Exposure to enterprise application decommissioning and long-term data retention strategies
Pre-Screening Questions
Please confirm briefly when applying:
24. Are you a UK National with current SC or previous SC that can be transferred?
25. How many years’ hands-on data migration / ETL / DBA experience do you have, and with which databases (e.g. Oracle, SQL Server)?
26. Are you happy working inside IR35 and attending the Preston site as required?
If you’re an experienced Data Migration Consultant, Data Engineer or DBA who enjoys complex, secure data work and wants to lead critical application retirement projects, we’d like to hear from you.
Please apply with your CV, SC status, core database skills and earliest start date.