Principal Data Engineer in Portsmouth

Location: UK, Hybrid

Compensation: Competitive Salary + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF71427

Lead the Data Engineering Vision Behind Complex, High‑Impact Programmes

At Babcock, we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Principal Data Engineer at any of our main UK locations, near your nearest commutable town and county.

The role

As a Principal Data Engineer, you’ll take on a pivotal senior technical leadership role at the heart of Babcock’s AI and Data organisation (AIDEX). You’ll set engineering standards, shape the architecture of our data platforms, and lead teams delivering high‑quality, secure and scalable data products that enable analytics, enterprise applications and major transformation programmes. Day‑to‑day, you’ll influence how critical data flows across our organisation supporting defence, aerospace and engineering operations that protect people, infrastructure and national capability.

• Set engineering standards, own core data platform components and lead teams delivering secure, reusable data pipelines and products.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple programmes, ensuring high‑quality architecture, performance, security and reliability.
• Act as the principal technical expert for SAP and non‑SAP data engineering and migration, ensuring robust end‑to‑end delivery.
• Shape strategy, patterns and reusable assets across AIDEX, developing a consistent and scalable engineering approach.
• Work closely with data migration leads and programme stakeholders to ensure accurate extraction, transformation and governed loading into target platforms.

This role is full time OR part time, 37.5 hours per week and provides hybrid working arrangements with days onsite and days working from home.

Essential experience of the Principal Data Engineer

• Extensive experience leading large‑scale, complex data engineering and migration programmes with diverse business and IT stakeholders.
• Deep expertise in modern data engineering practices including ingestion, orchestration, ELT/ETL, modelling and data lake/warehouse solutions.
• Strong SQL skills and proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python or Scala).
• Expertise in CI/CD, automated testing, configuration management and infrastructure‑as‑code approaches.
• Demonstrable understanding of SAP data migration principles, including release‑based delivery methodologies.

Qualifications for the Principal Data Engineer

• Agile certifications (e.g., Scrum Master), DevOps accreditation or equivalent practical experience.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Standard (BPSS) / Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role. Must be British Nationals / Passport Holders. Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held.

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10‑days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading – buy or sell up to one working week of annual leave
• ‘Be Kind Day’ – one paid volunteering day each year
• Flexible working – supporting better integration of work and personal life
• A dynamic working environment

Babcock

We’re Babcock a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 26,000 people working together to make a difference. Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we’re building a future that lasts not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work‑life balance. We call that lifetime engineering. Join us and see how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email careers@babcockinternational.com with the subject header ‘Reasonable adjustments requirement’. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone’s free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working – please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.

Closing date: 24/02/2026