Lead Data Engineer

We are looking for an experienced Lead Data Engineer to help shape and grow our data engineering capability on the south coast, based out of our new Hove office. At Capgemini, it is important to create an environment where individuals and teams are able to take responsibility not just for their assigned tasks, but for the broader success of the programme. Our vision goes beyond providing great IT Services; we're shaping the future together.

This is a senior engineering leadership role within our Data Portfolio. It combines technical leadership, delivery accountability, governance, capability growth and people development, with a particular focus on building a sustainable data engineering presence in Hove. This role will need you to be client centric - to put the client's needs, goals and ambitions at the heart of everything you do. Actively seek to understand what success looks like for the client and shape your work to help them achieve it. Going the extra mile will also be imperative. Acting as a true partner - anticipating needs, solving problems and helping the client achieve their goal.

The Hove office is an important growth location for Capgemini. Today, our south coast team has a strong legacy technology heritage, with smaller pockets of modern data work. We want to build on that foundation and create a broader, modern data engineering capability. Working with senior portfolio leadership, delivery teams and the wider Insights & Data engineering practice, you will take ownership for shaping and assuring engineering outcomes delivered by the Portfolio, with a focus on the Hove-based teams. We anticipate candidates spending 40-70% of their time in our Hove office to help build local relationships, support people development, and shape the business growth needed to establish a stronger data engineering presence.

Hybrid working: The places that you work from day to day will vary according to your role, your needs, and those of the business; it will be a blend of Company offices, client sites, and your home; noting that you will be unable to work at home 100% of the time.

If you are successfully offered this position, you will go through a series of pre-employment checks, including: identity, nationality (single or dual) or immigration status, employment history going back 3 continuous years, and unspent criminal record check (known as Disclosure and Barring Service).

Your role:

• Lead Hove-based data engineering teams and wider in shaping solution direction, delivery approaches, engineering standards and technical outcomes.
• Own local engineering delivery assurance, governance, design reviews and assuring commercially sound technical decisions.
• Actively grow the Hove-based capability through recruitment, junior talent programmes, onboarding, mentoring, and community engagement – taking ownership for Hove but working with our wider team to achieve this.
• Shape the modernisation of a mixed estate, bringing pragmatic leadership across legacy systems, cloud platforms and contemporary data engineering practices.
• Build trusted relationships with client, partner and internal stakeholders, bringing clarity, ownership and constructive challenge to complex technical and delivery decisions.
• Identify and shape opportunities for growth, including new work, capability development, bid support and stronger use of data engineering capability across the wider Insights & Data Practice.

Your skills and experience:

• Strong experience as a senior data engineer or engineering lead, with a track record of owning complex data delivery across multiple teams, projects or programmes.
• A collaborative leadership style, with experience mentoring, coaching, recruiting or developing engineers and helping teams work as part of a wider engineering community.
• Deep data engineering knowledge across integration, transformation, orchestration, modelling, quality, observability, performance, security and operational support.
• Credibility across modern data platforms and cloud technologies, alongside the pragmatism needed to work in large enterprise and legacy environments.
• Experience setting, governing and improving engineering standards, quality controls, reusable patterns and delivery processes.
• Strong stakeholder management, with the ability to explain complex technical issues clearly and build trust with senior clients and internal leaders.
• Commercial awareness, including the ability to make engineering decisions that balance quality, cost, maintainability, profitability, delivery confidence and client satisfaction.

Technical landscape: We work across a broad and evolving technology landscape, so we are looking for strong data engineering fundamentals and credible technical depth rather than a perfect match against every tool. Programmes of work being delivered include large scale data migrations to cloud, new project delivery, service enhancement and support. Relevant experience may include:

• Strong SQL and data modelling experience.
• ETL/ELT design and delivery.
• Data pipeline design, build, monitoring and operations.
• Batch and real-time data integration patterns.
• AWS cloud data platforms.
• Data lake, lakehouse, warehouse or large-scale analytical platform delivery.
• Python, Bash or other scripting and automation approaches.
• Workflow orchestration and scheduling tools, such as Airflow, TWS, JS7 or similar.
• CI/CD, version control and modern engineering delivery practices.
• Data quality, testing, observability and operational resilience.
• Working with enterprise platforms such as Oracle, Cloudera, SAS, Denodo, Power BI or similar technologies.

This role goes beyond leading delivery. Successful candidates will be expected to take clear ownership for the capability, quality and engineering outcomes of Hove-based work, while helping shape a positive engineering culture across our Hove office, the wider Data Portfolio and the Insights & Data Practice.

Capgemini is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) under the UK Government’s Disability Confident scheme. As part of our commitment to inclusive recruitment, we will offer an interview to all candidates who declare they have a disability and meet the minimum essential criteria for the role. Please opt in during the application process.

Your security clearance: To be successfully appointed to this role, it is a requirement to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance. To obtain SC clearance, the successful applicant must have resided continuously within the United Kingdom for the last 5 years, along with other criteria and requirements. Throughout the recruitment process, you will be asked questions about your security clearance eligibility such as, but not limited to, country of residence and nationality. Some posts are restricted to sole UK Nationals for security reasons; therefore, you may be asked about your citizenship in the application process.

Why you should consider Capgemini: Growing clients’ businesses while building a more sustainable, more inclusive future is a tough ask. When you join Capgemini, you’ll join a thriving company and become part of a collective of free-thinkers, entrepreneurs and industry experts. We find new ways technology can help us reimagine what’s possible. It’s why, together, we seek out opportunities that will transform the world’s leading businesses, and it’s how you’ll gain the experiences and connections you need to shape your future. By learning from each other every day, sharing knowledge, and always pushing yourself to do better, you’ll build the skills you want. You’ll use your skills to help our clients leverage technology to innovate and grow their business. So, it might not always be easy, but making the world a better place rarely is.

About Capgemini: Capgemini is an AI-powered global business and technology transformation partner, delivering tangible business value. We imagine the future of organisations and make it real with AI, technology and people. With our strong heritage of nearly 60 years, we are a responsible and diverse group of 420,000 team members in more than 50 countries. We deliver end-to-end services and solutions with our deep industry expertise and strong partner ecosystem, leveraging our capabilities across strategy, technology, design, engineering and business operations. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.5 billion.