Data Engineer (18 Months FTC)

About Barnet Council

Barnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centres, vast green spaces and diverse communities all help make it a great place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive, Collaborative – which drive everything we do.

About The Role

This is an exciting time to join Barnet as we grow our Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) capabilities and accelerate our digital transformation journey. We’re investing in smarter services, better use of data, modern technology, and you’ll play a key part in shaping this future. We’re looking for a Data Engineer to join our Insight & Intelligence Hub, working with a talented team to help design, build and maintain the data infrastructure that powers our analytics, AI and insight functions. You’ll work across the organisation to integrate complex datasets, improve data quality, and create robust data pipelines that enable our analysts and data scientists to deliver high-value insight for services and residents. This is a hands-on technical role where you’ll work with modern cloud technologies, large-scale data systems and cutting-edge tools to support predictive analytics, machine learning initiatives and enterprise reporting. If you’re excited by engineering challenge, modern data platforms and solving real-world problems, you’ll be a great fit. This is a hybrid role. You will be expected to attend monthly in-person team days in our Colindale office. We also come into the office to meet service stakeholders, work together on collaboration, discovery and user testing sessions and department days.

About You

You’re an experienced and adaptable data engineering professional who enjoys creating well-designed, efficient and reliable data solutions. You’re comfortable working with complex systems, experimenting with new tools and collaborating with colleagues across technical and non-technical teams. You will bring:

• Strong hands-on experience with modern data engineering tools and practices, including ETL/ELT, data warehousing and data modelling.
• Expertise in cloud data platforms, ideally Azure services such as Data Factory, Synapse, Databricks, Spark or Snowflake.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL and other relevant languages for building pipelines and enabling automation.
• Experience building and managing production data services, integrating data from multiple systems, and improving data quality.
• Understanding of data governance, security, information management and UK GDPR.
• The ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly for non-specialist audiences.
• A collaborative and proactive approach, with confidence leading projects, supporting partners and driving continuous improvement.

If you enjoy solving complex data challenges and playing a leading role in a growing data function, this is an excellent opportunity.

In this role, you will:

• Develop and maintain the council’s Microsoft Azure Data Platform, supporting cloud-ready, scalable analytics.
• Build and optimise data pipelines, APIs and integrations across on-premise, cloud and supplier-hosted systems.
• Extract, clean, transform and combine data from a wide range of operational systems to create high-quality datasets for insight and machine learning.
• Work with data scientists to design and maintain pipelines for AI/ML models, including supporting feature engineering, labelling and large-scale data flows.
• Automate manual data processes to improve speed, reliability and accessibility of insight.
• Lead data engineering projects, including working with external suppliers and supporting more junior colleagues.
• Implement and maintain data lakehouse architectures, master data management and metadata repositories.
• Ensure that data workflows comply with security, privacy and governance standards, including anonymisation where required.
• Optimise the performance of code, pipelines and data systems, resolving issues, bugs and outages.
• Contribute to the development of data strategy, standards and reusable engineering frameworks across the Hub.
• Work with colleagues across ICT, Connected Places and service teams to join up data and support emerging technologies (e.g., IoT, geospatial, AI).
• Support the creation of visualisations and reusable analytical products that enhance decision-making.

You’ll be part of a forward-looking team that values continuous learning, experimentation and innovation, helping Barnet fully unlock the power of its data.

What We Offer

• 31 days annual leave, plus public and bank holidays
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which provides a valuable guaranteed income in your retirement together with security for your dependents
• Work-life balance options may include hybrid working, flexitime, job share, home working, part-time
• A vast range of lifestyle discounts from major retailers, supermarkets, energy suppliers and more
• Broad range of payroll benefits including cycle to work, eye care vouchers, travel and gym membership
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Employee well-being training programs including confidential employee assistance

How To Apply

Read the job description and person specification before clicking Apply to commence the online application form. If you would like any further information about the role before applying, please contact James Rapkin, Head of Organisational Insight & Intelligence, james.rapkin@barnet.gov.uk

Barnet Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Barnet operates stringent safer recruitment procedures, this may include AI Detection Screening, Biometric ID/Right to Work Checks, Qualification and Registration Checks, Up to 6 years of Employment Data and Insights to Accelerate Screening (Konfir), Up to 5 years of Employment History References, DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) Checks, Credit Checks and Social Media, Sanctions and Occupational Health Screening.

To deliver Barnet Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity in the provision of services, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. As such we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds. Barnet Council embraces all forms of flexible working (including part-time, compressed hours, and hybrid working) and is committed to offering employees a healthy work-life balance. Candidates are encouraged to talk about relevant requirements and preferences at interview. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking. Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process.

We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

All posts with the council are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the council satisfaction your suitability for the position in which you will be employed. Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient number of applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible. Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically. Should you not hear from us within four working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.