Senior Data Engineer

On behalf of DWP, we are looking for a Senior Data Engineer for a 9 months Inside IR35contract based Hybrid Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield
SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active SC clearance.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.
Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:
. Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
. Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
. Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
. Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.
As a Senior Data Engineer, your main responsibilities will be:
Essential:
Key Responsibilities
. Lead the design, development and delivery of data engineering solutions within a cloud-based analytics platform.
. Build and maintain scalable data pipelines, ingestion frameworks and ETL/ELT processes.
. Integrate data from multiple source systems, including event-driven platforms and operational services.
. Shape technical solutions, ensuring alignment with architectural principles and engineering standards.
. Provide technical leadership and oversight across data engineering products and services.
. Coach, mentor and support Data Engineers, helping to develop capability and raise engineering standards across the team.
. Drive the adoption of reusable, scalable and maintainable engineering practices.
. Collaborate with Data Architects, Lead Data Engineers and other technical specialists to solve complex business and technical challenges.
. Ensure robust documentation, quality assurance and adherence to engineering best practice.
Essential Skills & Experience
. Significant experience working as a Senior Data Engineer within large and complex organisations.
. Strong experience designing and implementing data pipelines, ETL/ELT processes and data integration solutions.
. Experience working with cloud-based data platforms, preferably AWS.
. Proven ability to design and deliver solutions that integrate multiple data sources into curated data platforms.
. Strong understanding of data engineering principles, data modelling and metadata management.
. Experience leading technical delivery and providing technical direction to engineering teams.
. Demonstrable experience coaching, mentoring and developing Data Engineers, driving capability growth and engineering excellence.
. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate complex issues and develop practical solutions.
. Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Desirable Experience
. Experience working within UK Government or large public sector organisations.
. Experience with event-driven architectures and Events Platform integrations.
. Knowledge of data governance, data quality and enterprise data practices.
. Experience developing reusable frameworks, components and shared engineering capabilities.
. Familiarity with Agile delivery environments and DevOps practices.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for a Senior Data Engineer who combines strong hands-on engineering expertise with the ability to lead, coach and develop others. You'll be comfortable working through ambiguity, solving complex data challenges and helping build a high-performing engineering culture while delivering critical data capabilities for DWP.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.
Disability Confident
As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DWP guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
Armed Forces Covenant
DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".