Gravitas is delighted to be supporting a forward-thinking financial services organisation seeking their first-ever Head of Data Engineering. This is a rare opportunity to take full ownership of a modern Azure-based data estate and transform a reactive function into a proactive, value-generating capability.
You’ll lead a team of engineers within a business that recognises data as a strategic differentiator. You won’t just “build to spec”, you’ll be expected to deeply understand business problems, shape solutions, and drive engineering excellence across a rapidly maturing data environment.
If you’re looking for a genuine meritocracy where you can define the vision, elevate standards, and own the roadmap end-to-end, this is an outstanding next step.
The Opportunity
* Lead, develop, and mentor a team of 5 Data Engineers (note: BI is being separated into its own function).
* Own and evolve a modern Azure data ecosystem including Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, and Databricks.
* Build robust, scalable data pipelines, ensuring high governance, strong documentation, and engineering discipline.
* Translate business problems into engineering solutions, not just deliver against tickets.
* Create the blueprint for turning data engineering from a reactive support function into a strategic growth driver.
* Partner with the CDAO, analytics specialists, and ML teams to ensure the platform enables modelling, insight, and product innovation.
* Maintain high standards around regulation, data governance, and FCA expectations.
* Oversee platform integrity: security, access controls, audit trails, and compliance workflows (e.g., DSARs, sanctions screening).
* Shape engineering best practice and guide the implementation of modern patterns, frameworks, and tooling.
* Provide architectural and infrastructure insight, this is a hands‑on role with no dedicated Azure infrastructure team.
What You Bring
Core Technical Expertise
* Proven experience leading a data engineering team
* Hands‑on experience with Databricks (Delta Lake, Notebooks, Workflows, Unity Catalog).
* Proficiency in SQL, Python, and PySpark.
* Experience across Azure Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, and cloud‑native architectures.
* A strong track record building scalable, high‑quality pipelines and lakehouse structures.
Additional Valuable Experience
* Understanding of hybrid on‑premise/cloud patterns and SQL Server integrations.
* Exposure to ML engineering, feature stores, or analytics‑ready data assets.
* Familiarity with FCA requirements, data governance frameworks, or credit/debt management environments.
* Financial services experience is highly advantageous.
* Collaborative, empowering people leader who sets high standards.
* Able to communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical audiences.
* Thinks strategically, balancing delivery with long‑term capability building.
* Comfortable diving into detail when needed; leads by example in code quality.
* Energised by solving complex problems with a practical, solutions‑first mindset.
* Resilient and driven, capable of maintaining momentum in a fast‑paced, evolving environment.
What You’ll Get
* Discretionary annual bonus
* 25–30 days holiday (depending on service) + birthday day off
* Pension scheme with up to 5% matched contributions
* Manchester‑based during probation; 3 days hybrid working thereafter
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