Senior Data Platform Engineer in Cheltenham

We are seeking a skilled Data Engineer to join our Engineering team, responsible for designing, building, and optimising scalable data pipelines that power advanced analytics and machine learning solutions. You will play a key role in enabling data-driven decision-making by delivering high-quality, reliable datasets to tools such as Amazon SageMaker and other analytics platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Data Science team to develop robust data pipelines that feed analytics and machine learning tools such as Amazon SageMaker and third-party platforms like Databricks.
• Leverage AWS technologies such as EMR, S3, EKS and Airflow to process and orchestrate high-volume datasets, ensuring solutions are scalable, resilient and cost-efficient.
• Embed data loss prevention (DLP) principles and controls into data pipelines to protect sensitive information, while ensuring data is reliable, accessible, well-governed and optimised for downstream consumption.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Essential

• Strong experience in data engineering within AWS cloud environments.
• Hands-on experience with AWS big data technologies such as EMR, S3 and SageMaker.
• Proficiency in Python for building scalable data pipelines and processing frameworks.
• Experience with Apache Spark for distributed data processing.
• Experience designing and maintaining scalable batch and real-time data pipelines.
• Solid understanding of ETL/ELT design patterns and data modelling techniques.
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow (ideally deployed on AWS).
• Familiarity with containerisation and orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes (EKS).
• Experience with infrastructure as code (e.g. Terraform) and CI/CD/GitOps practices.
• Proven ability to optimise performance and reduce cloud costs through partitioning, clustering and workload management.
• Understanding of data security principles, including data loss prevention (DLP).

Desirable

• Experience with Databricks or similar third-party big data platforms.
• Knowledge of real-time streaming technologies (e.g. Kafka, Kinesis).
• Experience implementing data governance and compliance frameworks.
• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools in AWS environments.
• Exposure to Lakehouse or modern data platform architectures.

Job Benefits

• Flexible Working: Balance your work and personal life with our flexible working options.
• Generous Holiday Allowance: Enjoy 25 days of holiday, plus bank holidays, with the option to buy up to 5 additional days of annual leave.
• Medicash & Critical Illness Scheme Financial & Investment Benefits: Enjoy peace of mind with our Pension, Life Assurance, and Share Save Scheme.
• Community & Volunteering Programmes: Make a difference in your community with our volunteering opportunities.
• Green Car Scheme: Drive green and save money with our eco-friendly car scheme.
• Cycle Scheme: Stay fit and healthy with our cycle-to-work scheme.
• Special Time Off: Take time off for those big moments in life, like getting married/entering into a civil partnership, becoming a grandparent, and welcoming home a new pet.
• Family Planning: Benefit from our generous maternity and paternity leave, as well as time off and support for those undergoing fertility treatments.