Senior Data Engineer BI Hub

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work‑life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Think about the scale it takes to feed the nation. The level of data, transactions and variety involved. Then you’ll realise this is a modern software engineering environment, because it has to be. We’ve made significant investment in the standards and principles that shape how we work. We iterate, learn, experiment and champion ways of working such as Agile, Scrum and XP. So you can look forward to exciting opportunities across everything from AI to reusable tech.

In Sainsbury’s Tech we build the technology which powers the UK’s number 1 multi‑channel, multi‑brand retailer. Our Engineering squads are key to building and running our technology. Senior Engineers have the accountability, using and applying chosen principles and operating frameworks to define and deliver through the use of technology in their squad. As an individual contributor, the role supports the squad, enabling performance through sharing their expertise, judgement and passion for delivering for customers. Our Engineering Technical Competency framework and the community of practice enables the role to be part of a progressive community and this role contributes to this success.

What I Am Accountable For

• Lead design and build of real‑time and batch data pipelines (Spark, Kafka, Snowflake, event‑driven, serverless)
• Lead implementation of cloud solutions (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Design and support internal services and engineering frameworks
• Provide technical leadership, guidance and support to engineers
• Champion best practice in CI/CD, monitoring, performance and alerting
• Collaborate across squads and lead cross‑team interactions
• Embed security by design in all engineering outputs
• Drive a customer‑centric approach to engineering and delivery
• Champion adoption of new technologies and engineering approaches
• Solve complex problems with both big‑picture and detailed thinking
• Mentor engineers and contribute to the engineering community

Essential Criteria

• Strong programming capability in at least one core language (e.g. Python, Scala, Kotlin, JavaScript, C#)
• Deep experience building production‑grade data pipelines (batch and/or streaming)
• Proven expertise in modern cloud platforms (AWS, Azure or GCP)
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles and system design
• Hands‑on experience with CI/CD, infrastructure as code and DevSecOps practices
• Experience designing and implementing scalable, reliable data systems
• Ability to own and deliver across the full software development lifecycle
• Proven experience influencing, mentoring or guiding other engineers
• Strong collaboration skills across teams, including distributed/offshore teams
• Demonstrated use of agile or lean delivery methodologies
• Evidence of continuous learning and adoption of new technologies

What I Need To Show

• Self‑driven with a focus on improving team and engineering outcomes
• Advocate of agile and lean delivery approaches
• Passion for delivering customer‑focused solutions and owning outcomes
• Curiosity and ongoing development in emerging technologies
• Empathy and support for colleagues within the squad
• Ability to motivate and engage engineers across locations

Benefits

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new – whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business – and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

• Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day.
• We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover.
• You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance‑related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.
• Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday.
• We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest‑free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers.
• And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.
• Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).