Senior Technical Services Owner – Data Engineering

We are seeking an experienced Technical Service Owner to be the primary technical delivery lead for our Data Engineering team within our Group Technology Division. Reporting to the Head of Integration & Data Engineering, this role will lead our data engineering function, working alongside project managers, enterprise/solution architecture and project teams to ensure efficient delivery and operational control, ensuring that the Data Engineering team offers the right technical service and that strategic objectives are appropriately balanced with project needs.

This is a hands-on technical delivery role which would suit a senior data engineer looking to progress to a wider team leadership role - you will lead a team of Data Engineers and offshore resources. You will define and implement, with the Head of Integration & Data Engineering and other stakeholders, best practices and technical controls with a focus on delivery efficiency and operational support. You'll ensure a high level of quality is maintained in the output of the team in all their work and continually assess the technical service that we offer to ensure its relevance, capability and efficiency.

You will require a strong technical background in Data Engineering using the Microsoft toolsets (SQL Server / TSQL, Fabric, SSMS, Data Factory or similar), Python, Azure and good communication skills to guide the team and the delivery of accurate, secure, well-governed data products and solutions. This role is a balance between technical leadership, business understanding and pragmatism.

Key responsibilities in this role will include:

• Accountable for Data Engineering technical delivery across multiple projects and programmes across all the business divisions (Academic, Education, English Language Teaching).
• Plan and drive the development of data engineering solutions, ensuring that solutions balance functional and non-functional requirements.
• Work with and support Data Privacy and Security Teams, ensuring that our service is fully aware and compliant to GDPR and privacy legislation.
• Build and maintain data pipelines and the data catalogues for ingesting data reliably and securely, ensuring good operational visibility and reliability.
• Supporting the creation of Data Products within a Data Mesh architecture across multiple business domains.
• Develop and maintain the Data Engineering technical services (currently based on Data Hub (SQL Server), Fabric, Alteryx Server, Azure Machine Learning, etc) to ensure their continued relevance to the business demand.
• Collaborate with the Azure Cloud CoE function in the provision and shaping of the platforms & systems to enable cost efficiency and FinOps, and a secure, scalable environment.
• Support the Integration & Data Engineering Delivery Manager in ensuring project timelines are met and technical solutions are appropriate to the projects and our data principles.
• Coach the Data Engineering team and lead adoption in best practices and ensure their upskilling in emerging technologies.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have/be:

• Experience in shaping data engineering strategies, roadmaps, policies, standards, procedures & methods.
• Strong analysis and synthesis abilities, with extensive experience of working with data from complex sources and guiding teams to apply a range of techniques for data profiling.
• An extensive delivery-oriented background with experience of full software development lifecycle and large transformation programmes, the application of appropriate standards & methods, and the provision of method specific technical advice and guidance to project stakeholders.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of data engineering approaches, techniques, tools and frameworks.
• A customer focus – delivering quality functionality in a timely, efficient way that supports the business is our number one goal.
• A robust, proactive & pragmatic delivery ethos with excellent stakeholder management, collaboration & communication skills.
• A delivery-oriented background with experience of full software development lifecycle and managing competing priorities.
• “Own the problem” approach – ensuring that problems are addressed promptly, taking responsibility for removing roadblocks, and efficiently resolving decisions with the right people.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to explain complex problems and influence senior non-technical and technical architects, project managers and other colleagues.
• Familiarity with standard data engineering approaches, techniques, tools and frameworks.
• Excellent Technical background with Data Engineering, fully familiar with Microsoft Cloud data technologies including Fabric & SQL Server.
• Use of data pipelining / ETL tools e.g. Alteryx, Python Notebooks, Azure Data Factory etc.
• Good understanding of Microsoft Purview and Power BI as companion areas of Data Engineering technology.
• Understanding of cloud resources and networking.
• Familiarity with the publishing industry.
• Experience of technology domains beyond data including ERP (SAP), CRM or cloud services.

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts. This role comes with the added benefit of private medical insurance and a management bonus.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.