At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to design and implement an innovative data platform.
- Company: Join FreeAgent, a forward-thinking tech company in Edinburgh.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, flexible working, and 33 days holiday.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Shape the future of data technology while making a real impact.
- Qualifications: Experience in data engineering and modern software development practices.
The predicted salary is between 59000 - 87000 £ per year.
Our Data Platform Team
The mission of the Data Platform team is to empower FreeAgent’s engineers to reliably, securely, and sustainably derive value from our data assets.
The role
We’re looking for a Tech Lead who will play an active part in the design and implementation of our data platform. You will lead a small dedicated team of engineers, ensuring they’re well directed, motivated, productive and engaged in their work. You will collaborate closely with the Data Science and Analytics Engineering teams to ensure they have the right tools for their jobs, and enable stakeholders across FreeAgent to turn messy data into valuable insights. This is a team leadership role with a focus on technical contribution.
Our past projects include the design and delivery of an event system which processes over 100 million events per month, automating metadata management in our data lake, and implementing mechanisms for running regular quality checks on our data. Our platform supports our machine learning based automations for document extraction, bill, expense and bank transaction categorisation. We categorise over two million bank transactions every month with accounting grade accuracy. Currently, we’re in the process of migrating to a new orchestration tool, which presents exciting opportunities to shape FreeAgent’s data tech stack and make a positive impact by bringing modern engineering practices to our data pipelines.
Day to day your role will involve:
- Helping us realise our vision for our next generation data platform to make it easy to collect, process, store and analyse customer and business data
- Leading an agile development process for your team
- Collaborating cross-functionally with other engineering teams
- Assisting in producing common development and architectural standards and ensure they’re upheld across engineering teams
- Cutting code alongside your team when required, review pull requests
- Line managing your team, and onboard, coach and mentor any new hires
- Keeping up to date with developments in data, ML and AI technology and techniques
- Working with senior engineering leadership to understand the big picture and the future vision of the FreeAgent stack and drive forward the development of the data platform to meet these goals
You 🙌
Our data platform is built in AWS and some of the specific tools we use are outlined below. However if you have experience with equivalent tools you should still apply. Recruitment is a great chance for us to bring alternate perspectives into the team! Ideally you’ll have the following skills and experience:
Data Engineering- You can demonstrate hands‑on experience with a modern data pipeline stack. We’re currently migrating to Dagster, dbt and dlt and we work with structured and unstructured data from a variety of sources, as well as internal event data
- You have designed and implemented data lakehouse storage architectures using tools like S3, Redshift, Glue, and Athena together with your team
- You can employ an appropriate data modelling technique for a given problem. As well as working with semi‑structured event data we rely on dimensional models for business reporting.
- You have up‑to‑date knowledge of data management and retention regulations, security and ethics
- You are comfortable following a modern software development methodology to implement and test changes to complex systems. We use Python, Ruby and Git/Github.
- Experience building and managing infrastructure as code (we use Terraform)
- Experience deploying containerised services with Docker and GitHub Actions
- Experience with machine learning platforms such as SageMaker
- A comprehensive understanding of lean and agile development methodologies
- Experience of or enthusiasm to develop people management skills
- Keeping up to date with new techniques, technologies and resources
Our work life 👩🏽💻
We believe in a strong work‑life balance, we don’t work long hours (35 hour working week), and we have a fabulous Edinburgh HQ expertly designed for collaboration including high‑quality A/V equipment to provide a great experience for distributed teams. At FreeAgent, we support each other and operate a no‑blame culture. Our mindset is: work hard, be nice to people, and the rest will sort itself out!
Work pattern for this role
This is a permanent, full time role (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). This role will be based in our Edinburgh office, however there will be an opportunity to adopt hybrid working, under an agreed pattern of 2 days from the office and 3 days at home each week.
Perks 🎁Senior level: Annual starting salary of £59000 - £72000 per annum depending on experience, with room to progress to £80000 within the band. Staff level: Annual starting salary of £80000 - £87000 per annum depending on experience, with room to progress to £95000 within the band. Our starting salaries typically leave some opportunity for growth within the band as salaries are linked to performance expectations to nurture our culture of fairness, learning and development.
We pride ourselves on creating a fantastic place to work, with benefits and perks including (but not limited to!) the following:
- 33 days holiday (and an extra day for each year you’re with us)
- Flexible/hybrid working
- Private health care
- Life assurance
- 5% matched pension contributions
- Summer 4 day weeks (giving you 8 additional days off!)
- Buy‑as‑you‑earn share schemes
- Sabbatical leave (unpaid)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Wellness webinars
- Focused learning time and learning budgets
- Volunteering day
Find out more about our benefits package here!
Tempted to apply? Read about the hiring process for this role so you know what to expect.
Data Platform Tech Lead in Edinburgh employer: FreeAgent Holdings Ltd.
FreeAgent is an exceptional employer that prioritises a strong work-life balance and fosters a collaborative, no-blame culture within its Edinburgh headquarters. With a commitment to employee growth through flexible working arrangements, generous holiday allowances, and a focus on continuous learning, FreeAgent empowers its team members to thrive both personally and professionally while contributing to innovative data solutions.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Data Platform Tech Lead in Edinburgh
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with people on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your projects and contributions. This is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and passion for data engineering and tech leadership.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to data platforms and team leadership. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online platforms to get comfortable with the process.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining our awesome team at FreeAgent.
We think you need these skills to ace Data Platform Tech Lead in Edinburgh
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience with data platforms and leadership. We want to see how your skills align with our mission at FreeAgent!
Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t hold back on detailing your hands-on experience with tools like AWS, Python, and Terraform. We’re keen to know how you’ve tackled challenges in data engineering and software development.
Highlight Team Leadership Experience:Since this role involves leading a team, share examples of how you've motivated and guided others in previous positions. We love seeing how you can inspire your teammates!
Apply Through Our Website:For the best chance of success, make sure to submit your application through our website. It helps us keep everything organised and ensures your application gets the attention it deserves!
How to prepare for a job interview at FreeAgent Holdings Ltd.
✨Know Your Data Tools
Make sure you’re well-versed in the tools mentioned in the job description, like Dagster, dbt, and AWS services. Brush up on your experience with data lakehouse architectures and be ready to discuss how you've used these tools in past projects.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Tech Lead, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to lead a team effectively. Prepare examples of how you've motivated and directed teams in previous roles, and be ready to discuss your approach to mentoring and onboarding new hires.
✨Understand Agile Methodologies
Familiarise yourself with lean and agile development practices, as these are crucial for the role. Be prepared to discuss how you've implemented these methodologies in your work and how they can benefit the team at FreeAgent.
✨Prepare for Technical Questions
Expect technical questions that assess your problem-solving skills and knowledge of data engineering. Practice coding challenges and be ready to explain your thought process when tackling complex data problems, especially those related to data pipelines and machine learning.
