Data Engineering Platform Lead

Location: Guernsey, Haywards Heath, Home Office (Remote) or Manchester

Salary: £63,000 – £96,000 – depending on experience

Department: Technology and Data

We’re First Central Insurance & Technology Group (First Central for short), an innovative, market-leading insurance company. We protect the things customers love so they can get on with what matters to them in life.

Data drives us. It fuels our outstanding distribution, finance, technology and legal services. Our underwriting skills are built on data expertise; it creates the insights we need to give the right cover to the right customers at the right price. But, it’s the people inside and outside our business that power us. They make us stand out, help us succeed. We’re ambitious. We’re growing. We’ve won awards.

Are you an experienced Data Engineering Manager? Do you have experience running data platforms, triaging issues and delivering excellent service to your customers? Do you want to be a leading force in a growing data engineering practice building out best in class data services? If so, this role could be for you!

We’re looking for a Data Engineering Platform Lead to drive the management of our new Azure Data Platform as we transition from our legacy on-premise SQL estate into a fully modern Azure data platform offering. You’ll be managing a team of 6 and will be part of the Data Engineering management team who drive forward our data engineering roadmap and capabilities.

Core skills we’re looking for to succeed in the role:

• Excellent customer service and communication skills: You’ll be able to convey complex technical solutions to our internal customers.
• A data engineering and Azure technology champion: You’ll champion our initiatives and will contribute to our long-term strategic goals.
• Leadership: As a true people leader, you’ll ignite innovation while guiding your team toward fresh approaches, meeting our customers’ ever-growing needs.

Job purpose:

• The Data Platform Lead Engineer will manage a team of data engineers and cloud data platform engineers and will manage and run our Azure data platform estate.
• Your main responsibilities will include managing and developing our Microsoft Azure based data platform leaning heavily towards data engineering processes as well as supporting the legacy on-premise platform during our migration and decommission process.
• In this role, you will ensure that our data platforms are efficient, performant, monitored, secure, and cost-effective while meeting the increasing demands of our growing customer base.
• During our on-premise to Azure migration period (estimated to end in 2025), you will manage the relationship between First Central and our managed service provider, ensuring the teams work collaboratively.
• As a leader, you will manage, support, and develop your team members, who will have varying levels of experience.

Experience & knowledge

• Leadership experience: Ability to lead, mentor, and develop a diverse team of engineers.
• Experience managing relationships with managed service providers and/or third parties along with strong stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent understanding of data platform and infrastructure management including data engineering, data warehousing, and business intelligence.
• Technical expertise in Microsoft data technologies both on-premise and in the Azure cloud.
• Proficiency in infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform and Bicep.

Skills & Qualifications

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Supporting and enthusiastic team leader.
• Strong time management, prioritisation and organisation skills.
• Ability to diagnose and troubleshoot problems quickly.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate).

Ready to make a positive impact? Apply now and be part of something big!

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