Senior Platform Data Engineer - Cardiff

Please note that this is a hybrid position in Cardiff with a mixture of in-office and home-based working.

Every game is an ecosystem beyond mere gameplay. At Terminal Velocity, part of the Rocket Science Group, our platform and server teams are dedicated to constructing the infrastructure necessary for your game's global rollout through a strong focus on back-end and publishing stacks.

We are looking for a Senior Data Platform Engineer to help us design, build, and improve reliable data systems for our partners and internal teams. This is primarily a data engineering role. Your greatest strengths should be in areas such as data pipelines, data modelling, data quality, observability, and making data trustworthy. Adaptability is hugely important here. We work across a wide range of technical problems, so we are looking for someone who is also willing to step into adjacent areas such as backend services, web development, infrastructure, or SDK development when the opportunity arises. We do not expect you to be an expert in all of those areas. We care more about strong data engineering depth, good software engineering skills, curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly.

About the Role:

In this role, you will build scalable and resilient data solutions for games and related platforms. You may work on telemetry pipelines, analytics platforms, data warehouse and lakehouse design, reporting foundations, or backend integrations. You will be expected to speak directly with stakeholders and customers, clarify vague requirements, break down complex work, estimate and plan delivery, and make pragmatic technical trade-offs. Prior games industry experience is useful, but not required. Strong data engineering experience, good engineering judgement, and the ability to work with ambiguity are much more important.

What We Value:

• Data Engineering: Strong experience designing, building, and operating reliable data platforms, pipelines, and data products. We are especially interested in people who understand data modelling, data quality, validation, observability, cost control, and how to make data trustworthy for technical and non-technical users.
• Technical Skills: We use a broad set of languages and technologies, and we are always happy to hear from candidates with experience in one or more of the following:
• Languages: Python, SQL, C#, Golang, Java, Kotlin, TypeScript, or Rust
• Data Platforms: BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, or other SQL/NoSQL technologies
• Data Tooling: Airflow, dbt, AWS Glue, Step Functions, Spark, Hadoop, or similar tooling
• Infrastructure: AWS, Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes, or other cloud/platform technologies
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, ArgoCD, or similar deployment tooling
• Adaptability: This is primarily a data engineering role, but we value engineers who are willing to step into adjacent areas when needed. That might include backend services, infrastructure, web development, SDK development, telemetry integrations, tooling, or unfamiliar client systems. We do not expect expertise in all of these areas, but curiosity and willingness to learn are important.
• AI: A willingness to experiment with and embrace AI to help improve the efficiency and quality of our output.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive approach to identifying and addressing technical challenges, especially in messy or ambiguous data environments.
• Self-Motivation: Capacity for self-motivation, the ability to work independently, and the judgement to make sensible progress without every requirement being fully defined.
• Stakeholder Communication: The ability to speak directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders, ask good questions, explain trade-offs, and build shared understanding.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER:

• Competitive Salary and Benefits Package: Your health and wellbeing is important to us, so we offer a variety of benefits including:
• Private Pension via Salary Sacrifice
• Optional Private Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Annual Leave, plus Bank Holidays and Winter Break Office Closure
• Annual Research Credit: We always encourage personal growth, so we provide all of our team members with an annual credit to further enhance your skills!
• Professional Development: We offer annual reviews, as well as opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, internal tech talks, and the chance to learn from specialists with backgrounds from across the games and software development industries.
• Work-Life Balance: We really believe that home life comes first and we promote a flexible working environment. And as an added bonus: We don’t crunch!
• Family Friendly: We understand the importance of family, which is why we offer 6 weeks full of Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave to support you during this exciting time!
• Office Perks: In addition to everything above, we also provide:
• Weekly Team Lunches
• Snacks, Including the Good (Yorkshire) Tea
• Fully Equipped Team Lounge, Including our Favourite Consoles and Games
• And, most importantly, a supportive and creative working environment made up of talented and friendly people, as well as the opportunity to work on some pretty cool games and projects – if we do say so ourselves!

A Friendly Note from the Recruitment Team: Let us do the work for you: Even if your profile isn't an exact match for all of the qualifications listed above, we still want you to apply. Our team members come from a variety of different industries, not all of which are immediately relevant to game or software development, and we welcome all candidates of similarly varied backgrounds, communities, and identities.

Rocket Science is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a worry-free workplace void of discrimination or harassment. Rocket Scientists are expected to foster and champion an environment in which everyone has the opportunity to feel included and is afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Rocket Science does not accept unsolicited résumés from recruiters, employment agencies, or staffing firms.