At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and maintain Azure-based data pipelines for impactful teacher development insights.
- Company: Join the National Institute of Teaching, dedicated to improving education through data.
- Benefits: Enjoy 27 days holiday, flexible working, and lifestyle discounts.
- Other info: Supportive environment with continuous professional development opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in education while developing your data engineering skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in data engineering, Azure Data Factory, and strong T-SQL skills required.
The predicted salary is between 56667 - 56667 £ per year.
Hybrid, within commuting distance of Birmingham, Bristol, London, Blackburn, Redcar or Doncaster
£56,667 + benefits (+ London weighting, if applicable)
We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Senior Data Engineer to join our TED team and play an important role in building and maintaining the technical infrastructure that supports the NIoT and TED.
About Us
The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) has an unswerving commitment to high-quality, evidence-informed teacher education, and is on a mission to improve teacher and leader development across the education system.
A key part of that mission is our Teacher Education Dataset (TED), an ambitious data and research initiative focused on building better evidence about teacher development and what makes teaching impactful. By bringing together education, research and digital infrastructure, TED will support new insight into how teachers develop, improve and thrive across their careers.
About the Role
We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Senior Data Engineer to join our TED team and play an important role in building and maintaining the technical infrastructure that supports the NIoT and TED. Working at the intersection of data engineering, data and research, the postholder will help develop secure, reliable and scalable systems that enable robust analysis and contribute to high-quality, evidence-informed improvement across the sector.
Corporate Responsibilities
- To ensure that the responsibilities of the role are carried out in a way which reflects the mission and the values of the NIoT.
- To be aware of and observe all policies, procedures, working practices and regulations, and in particular to comply with policies relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Confidentiality, Data Protection and Financial Regulations, reporting any concerns to an appropriate person.
- To comply with all reasonable management requests.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build and maintain Azure-based data pipelines to support the ingestion, transformation and curation of TED datasets.
- Develop and maintain Azure SQL databases and research-facing schemas across raw, transformed and curated data layers.
- Write efficient, secure and well-structured T-SQL to support ingestion, validation, transformation and optimisation.
- Contribute to the development and ongoing refinement of a Common Data Model across multiple education data providers.
- Integrate and harmonise data from school MIS and EdTech platforms, including Bromcom, Arbor and Wonde.
- Build and maintain robust validation, logging, auditing and reconciliation processes to improve data quality and trust.
- Support secure data handling, including pseudonymisation, access control and compliance with data-sharing agreements and security requirements.
- Work closely with analysts, researchers, architects and partners to deliver scalable, analytics-ready data solutions.
- Contribute to agile planning, technical design, documentation and operational handover.
Essential Criteria
- Proven experience in data engineering, including building and maintaining production-grade data pipelines.
- Strong experience with Azure Data Factory and Azure SQL Server. Strong T-SQL skills, including schema design, stored procedures and query optimisation.
- Experience implementing validation, monitoring, logging and reconciliation controls within data pipelines.
- Strong understanding of secure data architecture and the handling of sensitive personal data.
- Experience with Azure DevOps, version control and CI/CD practices.
- Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to communicate effectively and work successfully in a multidisciplinary team.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience with education datasets, school MIS systems or EdTech platforms.
- Experience with common data models, longitudinal datasets or research-oriented data infrastructure.
- Experience with Power BI, Fabric or related analytics technologies.
- Experience in a public sector, education or high-governance data environment.
- Interest in applying data engineering to improve education and teacher development.
Key Benefits
- Generous Annual Leave – 27 days’ holiday a year (plus 8 bank holidays).
- Flexible Working – we offer flexible start and end working times, with hybrid working in place for all roles.
- Pension – Entry to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
- Salary Sacrifice Schemes – we offer salary sacrifice schemes for bikes, cars and tech!
- Lifestyle Benefits – We offer discounts on gyms, cinema, retail and much more!
- Parenthood Leave – We offer above the statutory minimum for maternity, adoption and paternity leave.
- Working Environment – We have a stimulating, supportive and rewarding working environment with a dedicated team of likeminded professionals.
- Support: Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provides confidential support for employees on personal or work-related matters.
- Development: We fully support the development of our staff and ensure that you have high level of continuous professional development.
To ensure a fair and robust selection process, we expect all application responses to be based on your own original thoughts, skills and experience. Our system includes functionality to identify AI-generated content, and applications where responses appear not to be the candidate’s own work may be disregarded.
This post requires a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) with a Children’s Barred List Check and Occupational Health Check is required as a condition of employment.
Senior Data Engineer The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) in Birmingham employer: Society of Research Software Engineering
The British Library is an exceptional employer, offering a vibrant work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration within the Digital Research Team. With a commitment to inclusivity and diversity, employees benefit from flexible working arrangements, generous holiday allowances, and opportunities for professional growth in a prestigious environment dedicated to advancing digital scholarship and public outreach.
Contact Details:
Society of Research Software Engineering Recruitment Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
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